Drury served as commander of the
ship of the line during the
French Revolutionary Wars, during which he was heavily engaged at the
Battle of Camperdown, at which a Dutch fleet was destroyed in 1797. Drury was promoted to
Rear-Admiral of the Blue in April 1804, and appointed as second-in-command of the Irish station on 17 December. He was promoted to
Rear-Admiral of the White in November 1805, and
Rear-Admiral of the Red in April 1808. In July 1810 he was finally promoted to
Vice-Admiral of the Blue. Drury was appointed as commander of the
East Indies Station in September 1807, after his predecessor
Sir Thomas Troubridge had been lost at sea sailing from India to the Cape of Good Hope. He sailed later that month aboard
HMS Monmouth with a convoy to India. The convoy arrived off
Tranquebar (modern Tharangambadi) just as British troops were being landed to occupy the Danish colony there. Drury then landed at
Madras (modern Chennai) in February 1808, to take up his command. The following month he transferred his flag to
HMS Russell and escorted a convoy up the coast to
Calcutta (modern Kolkata), returning in June. In 1808 he commanded an a Portuguese colony; Portugal, a British ally, had recently been occupied by France. The fleet arrived in September 1808 and a detachment of troops were landed, but a lack of support from the Portuguese authorities and strong resistance from the Chinese government meant that the force was withdrawn before it caused a diplomatic crisis between Britain and China. Drury's command in the East Indies overlapped with that of
Albemarle Bertie at the
Cape of Good Hope and the two engaged in numerous political struggles, even appointing separate officers to command the same ships to spite one another. In November 1810, Drury was ordered to provide Bertie with a fleet of small transport ships for the
Invasion of Île de France, which he accompanied and insisted on command despite orders not to infringe on Bertie's command of the operation. When Bertie was subsequently made a
baronet as a reward for the successful conclusion of this operation Drury complained at length about Bertie to the
Admiralty. Bertie demanded a
court martial on his behaviour, which was dismissed by the Admiralty, who were becoming irritated by Drury and Bertie's squabbling. The issue remained unresolved at Drury's sudden death on 6 March 1811 on station in India. ==Family==