Admiral Mark Robinson was an officer of the British Royal Navy, one of several members of the Robinson family to serve at sea. He entered the Royal Navy in 1736, at the age of 14 and was examined for his lieutenancy on 14 May 1747, after having been promoted to the rank of Fourth Lieutenant of on 30 March 1746. After serving as Lieutenant on several ships, Mark Robinson was promoted to captain of the 70-gun third rate on 13 August 1760. In the mid-1770s he was captain of the 64-gun, third-rate. During the American Revolutionary War he participated in several fleet actions against the French. As captain of Worcester he was at the First Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. Worcester was heavily engaged in the rear division under command of Sir Hugh Palliser. Subsequently, he was made captain of in March 1779. He participated in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780, under Sir Samuel Hood and the French Admiral comte de Guichen. Robinson led the division under Rear Admiral Drake, losing six men killed, and fourteen wounded. He distinguished himself at the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781. In the course of the engagement, Shrewsbury lost fourteen men killed, and fifty-two wounded, including Robinson, who lost a leg from cannon shot. Unable to return to sea, he was granted a pension. When he became, by seniority, entitled to a flag, he was placed on the list of superannuated rear admirals. At the time of his death, he was the senior rear admiral in the Royal Navy.
Nelson served under Robinson on Worcester as acting fourth lieutenant. The experience of escorting convoys in the wintery seas to and from Gibraltar completed Nelson's midshipman training. On Worcesters return to England on 3 April, Nelson then completed his lieutenancy examination on 9 April. Nelson was to subsequently write about this period: "But although my age might have been a sufficient cause for not entrusting me with the charge of a Watch, yet Captain Robinson used to say,'he felt as easy when I was upon deck,as any Officer in the ship".
