Ball served under Admiral Sir George Rodney in the West Indies and was present at Rodney's great victory over the French off Dominica (April 12, 1782). Promoted to captain in 1783, Ball did not receive his first command until 1790. On May 20, 1798, he saved Lord Nelson's (Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount) flagship from running ashore after being dismasted in a storm, and the two became close friends.

On Feb. 9, 1799, while he was blockading Malta, the island's legislature elected him president and commander in chief. After the French had surrendered Malta (September 1800), the British Admiralty withheld Ball from naval service, despite Nelson's plea in his favour. He was created a baronet in 1801 and then was made governor of Malta, where he remained the rest of his life. He was praised highly by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Coleridge, Samuel Taylor), who was his secretary on Malta in 1804.