 Promoted to commander, he served as executive officer of the battleship , flagship of the American Squadron operating in the North Sea during World War I. Woodward emerged from the war a decorated veteran with a Navy Cross and the first of his two Navy Distinguished Service Medals.After World War I, Captain Woodward served as commanding officer of .In 1921, while stationed in San Diego, he married Charlotte Margaret Linné, widow of Captain Edward Graham Parker, M.D., USNMC, and daughter of Catherine Fitzpatrick (O'Reilly) and Captain John Conrad Linne, keeper of the lighthouse at Goat Island in San Francisco Bay.