Later in 1944, Hustvedt returned to Washington, D.C., where he became a member of the General Board of the United States Navy on 24 October 1944. He served in this capacity until he retired from the Navy in 1946, being promoted to vice admiral upon retirement. Hustvedts career as a battleship officer had been a promising one and he had a good reputation prior to World War II. The rise of the aircraft carrier to dominance in naval warfare during that war left him with little opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities as a combat leader and prevented his possible emergence as a major World War II naval commander. Hustvedt received two awards of the Legion of Merit during his career. In addition, the United Kingdom invested him as a Knight Commander Order of the British Empire. Hustvedt was married to Irene Cooper Hustvedt (1894–1990), a daughter of the Republic of Hawaii's co-founder Henry E. Cooper, and was survived by three children. A son, Erling H. Hustvedt (1919–2001), entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1937 and, although dropped from the academy due to an incorrect evaluation of his eyesight, went on to become a Navy officer, seeing extensive service during World War II. A grandson, Frederick Hauck (b. 1941), became a U.S. Navy officer, fighter pilot, and astronaut in the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Space Shuttle Program. Hustvedt died of heart disease at his home in Washington, D.C., on 22 December 1978. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.