 He went on to be commanding officer of the cruiser HMS "Pandora" during propeller trials at Portsmouth in July 1901, and, having been promoted to captain on 1 January 1902 and having attended a course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he became naval attaché observing the actions of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russo-Japanese War.He became commanding officer of the armoured cruiser HMS "Roxburgh" in November 1905 and then, having been appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order on 25 September 1906, he became commanding officer of the battleship HMS "Hindustan" in December 1907.He then became Captain of the Fleet for the Home Fleet in the battleship HMS "Dreadnought" in December 1909.