as Aide and Flag Secretary to its Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Robert Coontz. He was ordered to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island in June 1925 and completed Senior course there in May of the following year. While at the college, Shafroth was promoted to Commander on November 16, 1925. He was subsequently ordered for the instruction to the Army War College in Washington, D.C. and upon graduation in June 1927, Shafroth served as a member of the faculty until June 1928. Shafroth was then ordered to the battleship USS Arkansas and served as ship's Navigator under Captain Hayne Ellis during the patrolling of the Panama Canal Zone and the Caribbean until May 1930. Shafroth was subsequently ordered to Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the Bureau of Navigation (predecessor of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) and served there for next three years under Rear admiral Frank B. Upham. He was ordered for another tour of sea duty in June 1933, when he was appointed Executive officer aboard battleship USS West Virginia under future Chief of Naval Operations, Captain Harold R. Stark. When he finally got his own "sea command" in June 1935, Shafroth was ordered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he was appointed commanding officer of USS Reina Mercedes, former Spanish Navy unprotected cruiser captured in 1898 during Spanish–American War, which was now used as a receiving ship. While in this capacity, he was promoted to Captain on July 1, 1936. However by the end of August 1938, Shafroth were given orders to assume command of modern heavy cruiser Indianapolis, which was commissioned into service back in July 1931. He led his ship during the patrols in the Pacific until August 1940, when he was ordered back to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C. for duty as Director of Naval Reserve Division. He reported to the Director of the Bureau then-Rear admiral Chester Nimitz and became his deputy in June 1941. While in this capacity, Shafroth befriended Nimitz and his family, which influenced Shafroth's later career. World War II Panama and Hawaii Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Shafroth was promoted to the temporary rank of Rear admiral and assumed temporary command of Cruiser Division 3 as substitute for his classmate, Abel T. Bidwell. His command consisted of old cruiser Richmond and Trenton, and was originally designated as Task Force for reinforcing