Promoted lieutenant on 18 December 1830, Henry was posted to the second-rate HMS "Asia", flagship of Sir William Parker, in September 1831. HMS "Asia" was then based at Lisbon, protecting British interests during the Portuguese Civil War. He joined the sixth-rate HMS "Rattlesnake" on the East Indies Station in December 1834. Promoted to commander on 28 June 1838, he joined the sloop HMS "Styx" at Sheerness in August 1841 and then took command of the sloop "Devastation" in the Mediterranean Fleet in September 1841. He became acting captain of the first-rate HMS "Queen" in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1842 and acting captain of the fifth-rate HMS "Aigle" also in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1843. He was promoted to captain on 5 September 1843 and, following his marriage to Barbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings (born Barbara Yelverton), assumed the surname of Yelverton on 3 January 1849.