Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Ballard ya shiga rundunar sojan ruwa a watan Disamba na 1776, a karkashin jagorancin Kyaftin mai daraja John Leveson-Gower, dan John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, wanda a wancan lokacin shi ne kyaftin na, wanda ya kasance wani ɓangare na rundunar jiragen ruwa a karkashin umurnin Admiral Keppel a lokacin rani na 1778. A watan Oktoba na shekara ta 1779 an canza shi zuwa, Kyaftin Mark Robinson, kuma ya kasance a ciki lokacin da Sir George Rodney ya ci nasara da rundunar Mutanen Espanya a Cape St. Vincent a ranar 16 ga Janairu 1780. A watan Yuli na gaba "Shrewsbury" ya sake komawa rundunar Rodney a cikin West Indies, ya kasance a Martinique a ranar 29 ga Afrilu 1781
, kuma ya jagoranci van a cikin aikin daga Chesapeake a ranar 5 ga Satumba, 1781. A lokacin yakin yakin ya fadi a kan "Shrewsbury", wanda ya kashe mutane goma sha huɗu da hamsin da biyu da suka ji rauni, ciki har da Kyaftin Robinson, wanda ya rasa kafa. Daga baya jirgin ya koma West Indies tare da Sir Samuel Hood, kuma ya kasance tare da shi a cikin ayyukan a St. Kitts a watan Janairun 1782, bayan haka dole ne a tura ta zuwa Jamaica don gyarawa. A ranar 10 ga Fabrairun 1783, yayin da yake Jamaica, Admiral Rowley ya sanya Ballard a matsayin mataimakin 5th, kuma an yi amfani da shi sosai a cikin jiragen ruwa daban-daban a cikin shekaru goma na zaman lafiya. Lokacin da yaki ya sake barkewa, shi ne na farko a cikin, wanda ya ɗauki tutar Rear-Admiral Alan Gardner ta hanyar kwanakin ƙarshe na Mayu da Yuni 1, 1794. Yaƙin na farko na Yuni mai daraja ya sami nasarar Ballard a matsayin kwamandansa a ranar 5 ga Yuli, 1794, kuma a ranar 1 ga Agusta, 1795 an ci gaba da shi zuwa matsayin kyaftin din.