After the expedition he toured the country giving lectures, and was promoted to Commander on his return to naval duties in the summer of 1914. He spent the First World War as a destroyer captain, becoming famous as "Evans of the Broke" after the Battle of Dover Strait in 1917. He commanded a cruiser at Hong Kong in 1921-22, where he was awarded a medal for his role in rescuing passengers from the wrecked Hong Moh, and then spent several years commanding the home fisheries protection squadron before being given command of the modern battlecruiser Repulse. He later commanded the Australian Squadron and the Africa Station before becoming Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, one of the Navy's major home commands; during this time, unusually for a serving officer, he was also Rector of the University