What did John Dickens do in the navy?

John Dickens, Charles Dickens' father, was not in the navy. He was a naval pay clerk, which is a different role.

He worked in the Royal Navy's Portsmouth dockyard and was responsible for managing the finances and payroll of the dockyard workers and naval personnel. This job often involved travel and could be quite demanding, but it was not a seafaring position.

It's easy to get confused because John Dickens' job was related to the navy, but he was not a sailor or officer.