At the age of seventeen Rodgers was made first mate of the merchant ship "Harmony" by Captain Folger. By the time Rodgers completed his five years of apprenticeship in 1793, Folger highly recommended him for command of a merchant ship named "Jane" that was regularly employed in the European trade and owned by the prominent Baltimore merchants Samuel and John Smith. Rodgers served as the captain of this ship between four and five years, sailing out of Baltimore for various ports in Europe. His first voyage took him to the Spanish port of Cadiz in the early months of 1793, returning home with a load of salt. Rodgers' next voyage sent him to Hamburg, Germany, but due to severe conditions on the North Sea he was forced to put up in England for the winter and did not reach his destination until spring of the next year. In September 1795 he departed for Baltimore from Liverpool, arriving home after a passage that consumed three months. Many events during his command of "Jane" can be ascertained from the ship's logbooks covering the period of July–August 1796, a time when France and England were still at war. It was aboard "Jane" that Rodgers mastered the art of ship's command, the skills of which came readily to him.