 He became Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord in December 1905 and was advanced to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 3 August 1907.Madden returned to sea as commanding officer of the battleship and chief of staff to Sir Francis Bridgeman, commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet in August 1907.He became Private Naval Secretary to Reginald McKenna, First Lord of the Admiralty, in December 1908 and, having been appointed a naval aide-de-camp to the King on 4 January 1910, he went on to be Fourth Sea Lord in January 1910 and took part in the funeral of King Edward VII in May 1910.