[6] With the rank of captain, Watts served as Judge Advocate General of the Navy from January 6, 1917, to April 15, 1918, and then as the commander of the cruiser Albany.

The United States landed troops at Vladivostok, possibly to check Japanese pretensions in that area, and to secure the port as an exit for the Czech Legion, then transiting the Trans-Siberian railway.

Watts sent armed landing parties ashore on several occasions in support of the troops and to evacuate sick and wounded men.

[7] In 1922 Watts served as Chief of the Gunnery Exercises and Engineering Division, Office of Naval Operations, Department of the Navy,[9] then as commander of the light cruiser Raleigh in 1924, and as U.S.

Promoted to rear admiral in 1930 he was the Commandant of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1931–32,[10][11] and in 1931 was appointed to preside over the court martial proceedings against controversial U.S. Marine major general Smedley Butler, who had been accused of circulating false rumors regarding Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.