 Luttrell's father, by now created Lord Irnham, negotiated advancement in the navy for his son, in exchange for political support, but his desire to be advanced to captain clashed with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich, who argued that a post-captaincy in home waters was "utterly impractical", but offered instead a recommendation to the commander in chief on one of the foreign stations.Sandwich communicated this to Luttrell's fellow MP John Robinson, who advised Luttrell to undertake a cruise, and in late July 1780 Luttrell was appointed first lieutenant of the 64-gun .Robinson informed Luttrell that Sandwich had promised to keep the "Belliqueux" in home waters, and would arrange for him to be promoted to master and commander at the first opportunity.