Balchen was exchanged almost immediately and the court martial, once again, exonerated him from all blame for the loss of his ship. He was rewarded for his bravery with command of HMS "Colchester" in 1710, in which, on 9 November, Balchen secured his first prize, a 20-gun French privateer which he outran in a gale. In 1712 and 1713, Balchen was in the Mediterranean under Sir John Jennings and returned home in 1713 for a period of unemployment on shore. With the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1715, Balchen was returned to sea in the 40-gun frigate HMS "Diamond", which he used in the suppression of piracy in the West Indies until 1716. The same year, he received the shore position commanding the guardship HMS "Orford" in the Medway.