Verderevsky graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps in 1893 and from the naval artillery class in 1898. He moved to the naval reserve in 1900 and was involved in shipbuilding on the Aral Sea in Turkestan. He rejoined the active navy in 1904 on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War and commanded a destroyer in the Black Sea Fleet. In 1905 he was gunnery officer on the battleship "Petr Velikiy" and had a role as a fleet gunnery instructor. He was wounded during the mutiny on the cruiser "Pamiat Azova" in 1906.