Navy Battle Fleet. Admiralty Taylor was promoted to rear admiral on 1 October 1922. He was director of fleet training from 1925 to 1927, and afterward commanded the 3rd Battleship Division of the Battle Fleet, with the battleship as his flagship. During fleet exercises in August 1927, he received an informal reprimand from his superior, Admiral Henry A. Wiley, (Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet), for launching planes from aircraft carriers after confronting an enemy rather than using his ships' superior speed to escape. In September 1927, Taylor made Joseph J. Clark (later an admiral himself who played a significant role in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944) his division chief of staff. Taylor was given command of the Scouting Fleet on 30 March 1926. The Scouting Fleet, based in the Atlantic Ocean, was an operational step down for Taylor. Although it contained two divisions of battleships, these were some of the Navy's oldest battleships, and the Scouting Fleet primarily consisted of cruiser and destroyer divisions. The old aircraft carrier was also attached to the Scouting Fleet for aircraft training purposes. Taylor's job was to train the Scouting Fleet for scouting missions. He was promoted to vice admiral in the summer of 1928. Taylor's command of the Scouting Fleet ended on March 8, 1929. He was succeeded by Rear Admiral William Carey Cole. Taylor was named chief of the War Plans Division of the Office of Naval Operations. Although energetic, deeply interested in Asia and the Pacific region, and a student of blockades and invasions, Taylor contributed little to war planning in these crucial years. According to naval historian Edward S. Miller, Taylor believed that Japan (a rising naval power in the Pacific) "deserved" American friendship, and that Japanese attempts to control Manchuria were a positive development. Naval historian Robert Love agrees, noting that Taylor deeply distrusted the Chinese and believed the Nationalist Government unwilling to defend its own territory. During this period, Taylor became good friends with Japanese Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura. While serving in the War Plans office, Taylor was appointed to the navy board assigned with selecting officers for promotion to admiral, commander, and captain. He also was appointed to the board of inquiry into comments made by Major General Smedley Butler (USMC) about an alleged crime committed by Benito Mussolini. Butler retired before the board finished its work. Command of the Asiatic Fleet Taylor was promoted