In March 1743 Balchen received the command of the Greenwich Naval Hospital and an annual pension of £600, . Balchen chafed at being forced to remain ashore and was not pleased when he was forcibly retired in April 1744, aged 74. Two months later, however, Balchen was recalled up to the Admiralty. A fleet of 25 British and Dutch ships had been raised in a hurry to rescue a British squadron and convoy under Sir Charles Hardy, which had been trapped in the Tagus by a French Brest squadron. Due to a shortage of officers of sufficient experience and seniority to command a fleet of this kind, Balchen was called up at short notice and rewarded with a knighthood.