Ka cika wannan jumla: An ba shi izini a matsayin ma'aikaci a cikin Rundunar Sojan Ruwa na Amurka. A lokacin aikinsa na jirgin ruwa, ya fara aiki a kan USS "Richmond", sannan kuma USS "Minnesota". Duk da yake a Asiya, Sprague ya rubuta labarun da ya rubuta don Boston Herald. Sa'ad da yake cikin jirginsa a Newport, Rhode Island, a shekara ta 1881, Sprague ya ƙirƙiro irin dinamo da aka juya. Bayan an canja shi zuwa USS "Lancaster", babban jirgin ruwa na Squadron na Turai, ya shigar da na farko na lantarki kira-kararrawa tsarin a kan wani United States Navy jirgin ruwa. Sprague ya dauki izini don halartar
Nunin Kasa da Kasa na Wutar Lantarki na 1881 a Paris da Crystal Palace Nunin a Sydenham, Ingila a 1882, inda ya kasance a cikin juri na kyaututtuka don injunan gas, dynamos da fitilu.