Following the war Blakely served with the Chief of Naval Operations, at the Naval War College, and with the rank of captain he commanded the battleship . After a tour as Assistant to the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in 1925, he was promoted to rear admiral on 4 June 1926 and given command of a cruiser division temporarily assigned to the Asiatic Fleet after the 1927 unrest in Nanjing, China. Blakely served as the commander of Light Cruiser Division 3 (, and ) from February 1927 to April 1928 and Light Cruiser Division 2 (, , and ) from April 1928 to June 1929. He also commanded the 15th Naval District and served on the important General Board before poor health forced him to retire 1 June 1932.