Franklin Van Valkenburgh was appointed a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy on September 15, 1905, and graduated on June 4, 1909. After service in the battleship and in , Van Valkenburgh was commissioned ensign on June 5, 1911. Traveling to the Asiatic Station soon thereafter, he joined the submarine tender at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, on September 11. He reported to the gunboat as executive officer on June 23, 1914, for a short tour in the southern Philippines before his detachment on August 4.