After graduation, Pollock returned to Ohio and married Beatrice E. Law Hale on December 5. Two weeks later, he was assigned to the cruiser during its initial shake-down. He was subsequently assigned to the gunboat for an expedition to China. He remained in China for two and a half years as part of the Asiatic Squadron, then transferring to before returning home in 1897. On his return home, the Spanish–American War was heating up and he was reassigned to "New York", to see service in Cuba and Puerto Rico, eventually taking part in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.