 Following a period at the Royal Naval College, he became Inspecting Officer of Coastguard at Scarborough in February 1874, and in September of the next year, was given command of the sloop "Rapid" in the Mediterranean.Other commands he held were those of the "Dasher", paddle gun-vessel, stationed off the Channel Islands; and the "Salamis", dispatch vessel, in the Channel Squadron, from the latter of which he was promoted captain on 14 October 1881.In March 1885, he became captain of the troopship "Jumna", in the transport service to India, and his two years or more in this command marked the limit of his active naval employment.