Rhode Island from May until August 1911, and then became Inspection Officer at the New York Navy Yard. Cluverius, now a lieutenant commander, was posted to the battleship in March 1914. From July to October 1914, he took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz, commanding a battalion of bluejackets that was landed from North Dakota. After returning to the ship he became its executive officer until July 1915, when he became commander of . He was then posted back to the Naval Academy as an engineering instructor. In November 1917, Cluverius became responsible for the conversion of the steamer SS Massachusetts to a minelayer. The ship was commissioned on 7 December 1917, and renamed USS Shawmut on 7 January 1918. She steamed to Britain in June 1918 and spent the rest of World War I laying the anti-submarine mine barrage across the North Sea. Shawmut laid 2,970 anchored mines before returning to the United States in December 1918,. He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal "for exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Commanding Officer of the USS Shawmut, engaged in laying mines in the North Sea." He also became an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and Officer of the Belgian Order of Leopold and a Commander of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Cluverius commanded the cruiser from February until June 1919, when he became Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, a post he held until 1921, when he left to attend the Naval War College. After graduating in 1922, he became Chief of Staff of Commander Base Force, Pacific Fleet. He commanded the cruiser from June to December 1923, when, following the usual pattern of sea duty alternating with shore duty, he was posted to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He became aide to the Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur. Sea duty followed in 1926 as captain of the cruiser . In 1928, he was promoted to rear admiral. He was one of only five captains promoted that year, the others being Arthur Japy Hepburn, Harry E. Yarnell, Albert Ware Marshall and Thomas Tingey Craven. He was Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard from 1928 to 1930, and commanded Battleship Division Two (BatDiv2) of the Scouting Fleet from June to November 1930. He then became Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief United