Colville became commanding officer of the fourth-rate in October 1804, shortly before it was wrecked by incompetent pilots in November 1804 and then became commanding officer of the third-rate in March 1807, in which he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars. Following the incident in Lisbon and the subsequent surrender of the Russian Fleet during the Anglo-Russian War, he accompanied the Russian Fleet back to Portsmouth in September 1807. He went on to be commanding officer of the second-rate in September 1811.