His subsequent seagoing assignments included the armored cruiser New York (ACR-2) and the training ship Essex, plus engineering-related shore duty.

Several months later, Beach was in command of another squad of Blue Jackets searching ashore for the enemy when he was separated from his men and captured by Filipinos.

Commander Beach served on the monitor Nevada (BM-8), the armored cruiser Montana (ACR-13), the training ship Essex as well as at the Boston Navy Yard as its engineering officer.

In tours between duties at sea, Commander Beach taught English at the Naval Academy in the early 1900s (decade), spending his spare time writing novels for young adults.

While commanding Tennessee, Beach took United States Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo and a party of dignitaries on a tour of several South American nations.

Conditions in the harbor had deteriorated badly by 15:45, when Memphis sighted an approaching 75 ft (23 m) wave of yellow water stretching along the entire horizon.

By 16:25, water began to enter the ship via her funnels, 70 ft (21 m) above the waterline, putting out the fires in her boilers and preventing her from raising enough steam to get underway.

Castine, meanwhile, managed to reach safer waters by getting underway and putting to sea through the large waves, although damaged by them and at times in danger of capsizing.

[2] Memphis's casualties, including a boatload of her sailors returning from shore leave in a motor launch and caught in the harbor by the huge waves, numbered 43 men dead or missing and 204 badly injured.

A court martial found Beach guilty of "not having enough steam available to get under way on short notice", with the huge waves at the time being considered a byproduct of weather and therefore predictable.

[7][8] When the United States entered World War I (1914–1918) in April 1917, Beach was assigned to command the Navy Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island.

As commanding officer of New York, he welcomed King George V of Britain aboard and was present for the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet just after the end of the war.

Beach's last command was the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on San Francisco Bay, where he oversaw the construction of the battleship California (BB-44).

Twelve of the novels constitute volumes in four-book series, all written in the tradition of the Horatio Alger stories—hard work and honesty will lead to success.