by the lack of action in Argonaut, Vian used a promise of help from William Fisher and subsequently received an appointment to , a modern Yarrow-built M-class destroyer, in October 1915. Whilst on this ship, he was a spectator at the Battle of Jutland, in which his ship played no active part. Promotion to lieutenant in 1917 (with seniority backdated to February 1916) resulted in two appointments as First Lieutenant in the destroyers (September 1916) and (December 1917). Inter-war Following gunnery courses in 1916, 1918 and 1919 at the Royal Naval gunnery school (), Vian obtained a First Class certificate in Gunnery in October 1919. Despite being slated for service with the British Military Mission in Southern Russia, he was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy for two years from January 1920 and served as Gunnery Officer of , then the Australian flagship. On his return to the Royal Navy, Vian was given a series of appointments as gunnery officer, first, in January 1923, to the battleship , then serving as a cadet training ship. During this appointment, he was promoted to lieutenant-commander on 15 February 1924. This was followed in 1924 by two appointments to aging s ( and ). There was a short period at the Devonport gunnery school () and another sea posting, to the battleship in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1925. There followed two foreign postings, still as a gunnery specialist. First in February 1927 to , in the Mediterranean Fleet. This was followed, in November 1927, to , the then-flagship of the China Station, where he was promoted to commander on 30 June 1929. For the two years up to January 1933, Vian had a "shore" appointment at the Admiralty in London, with the Director for Staff Training and Development (DTSD), analysing practice gunnery statistics. He then attended a short Tactical Course in Portsmouth and subsequently took command (his first), in March 1933, of the destroyer and a Division within the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla (part of the Mediterranean Fleet). A biography of the playwright Noël Coward refers to Coward meeting Vian at that time. Coward arrived at Bermuda on on 28 May 1933 and boarded the light cruiser on 30 May 1933. Vian's first words to Coward were "What the hell are you doing on board this ship?" However, after speaking to Coward and having gin with him in the captain's cabin, Vian permitted