In addition to serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve Force,[6] he was selected by President Theodore Roosevelt to accompany the Great White Fleet voyage in 1907 to document the journey.

In addition to his artwork, he was a frequent writer on naval topics, and served as an editor of Jane's Fighting Ships.

He decided to remain in the United States, and after his 1899 marriage to Pauline Stephenson of Chicago, he made his home in Weehawken, New Jersey.

In January 1908, an article of his was published in McClure's that bluntly criticized the design of the Navy's battleships and blamed the errors on naval bureaucracy, whose "nature compels it to perpetuate mistakes".

[13] This was essentially a summary of his close friend William Sims's opinions, who had hoped to create enough of a controversy to force reforms in the Navy, namely the end of bureaucratic control over battleship technology and the establishment of promotion system based on ability.