 Promoted to lieutenant on 27 July 1884, Madden transferred to the troopship in November 1884 and then attended the torpedo school before joining the directing staff there in 1885.He became torpedo officer in the frigate on the Cape of Good Hope Station in March 1888 and then in the battleship , flagship of the Channel Squadron in 1892 before rejoining the staff of HMS "Vernon" in 1893.Promoted to commander on 30 June 1896, he was posted to the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet and then the battleship also in the Mediterranean Fleet before returning to HMS "Vernon" again in 1899.