Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Ball ya shiga Royal Navy, kuma a ranar 7 ga Agusta, 1778, an ci gaba da zama laftanar. Shekaru uku bayan haka ya fara hulɗa da Sir George Rodney. Ball ya zama kwamandan kwamandan a ranar 14 ga Afrilu 1782, kwana biyu bayan shugabansa
lashe nasara, kuma ya dauki umurnin. A ranar 20 ga Maris 1783 ya zama kyaftin. Da aka dawo da zaman lafiya, an ba Ball hutun rabin albashi. Bayan haka, ya yi shekara guda a ƙasar Faransa don ya koyi yaren kuma ya yi rayuwa mai sauƙi. Kyaftin Horatio Nelson a wannan lokacin ba shi da sha'awar abokinsa na gaba da abokin tarayya, kuma ya bayyana Ball a matsayin "babban coxcomb".