 Her first assignment was to convey Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, on his tour of South Africa from December 1902 to March 1903.She then served as flagship of Admiral Wilmot Fawkes, commanding the cruiser squadron on the North America and West Indies Station, to whom Madden thus served as flag captain.Appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order on 11 August 1903, he joined the Ship Design Committee, which produced the and designs for battleships and armoured battlecruisers, in December 1904 and then became naval assistant to Admiral Henry Jackson, Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in February 1905.