Promoted to captain on 30 January 1839, Milne was given command of the sixth-rate HMS Crocodile on the North America and West Indies Station and employed carrying out fishery protection duties before becoming Captain of the sixth-rate HMS Cleopatra also on the North America and West Indies Station in November 1840.[5] In HMS Cleopatra he was employed both capturing slave-traders and carrying out fishery protection duties.[4] He became Flag-captain in the first-rate HMS Caledonia to his father, who was then serving as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, in April 1842 and Flag-captain in the first-rate HMS St Vincent to Sir Charles Ogle, who was then serving as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, in October 1846.[5]
Milne became First Naval Lord in the third Derby ministry in July 1866 and in this role took advantage of the Government's focus on spending reduction to ask fundamental questions about naval strategy.[1] He remained in office until the Derby ministry fell from power 18 months later.[5]
He became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS Lord Warden, in April 1869.[5] He was promoted to full admiral on 1 April 1870[11] and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1871.[12] "In the autumn of 1870 the Mediterranean Squadron, under the command of Sir Alexander Milne joined up with the Channel Squadron for the purpose of carrying out combined manoeuvres off the coast of Portugal, and Sir Alexander, being the senior admiral, took supreme command. The low freeboard, fully rigged turret-ship Captain had joined the Channel Squadron a short time before, and the combined fleet put to sea from Vigo".[13] On 6 September "the fleet was sailing in two columns on the starboard tack in a fresh north-west breeze, and Sir Alexander Milne went on board the Captain in the afternoon to inspect her and see how she behaved at sea, as she was a novelty... During the time the Commander-in-Chief was on board the Captain the wind and sea had increased, and he had great difficulty in getting back to his own ship – the Lord Warden. In fact, the captain of the Captain (Hugh Burgoyne) tried to persuade him not to risk it, but to remain on board for the night and return in the morning. Sir Alexander, however, was a dour auld Scotsman and said he would get back to his ship, and did."[13] That night the Captain capsized and sank and "only the gunner and seventeen men were saved."[13]
He again became First Naval Lord in the first Gladstone ministry in November 1872, remaining in office under the second Disraeli ministry and identifying the critical need for trade protection at times of War and demanding new cruisers to protect British merchant shipping.[1] He retired from office in September 1876 and was created a baronet on 26 October 1876.[14]
^ abcFitzgerald, Penrose (1913), Memories of the sea, Edward Arnold, pp. 278–9 There is another similar account of Milne's inspection of Captain at: Ballard, George Alexander (1980), The black battlefleet, Nautical Publishing Company Ltd, pp. 110–1
Beeler, John, ed. (2004). The Milne Papers: The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, Bt., K.C.B. (1806-1896), Volume I (1820-1859). Navy Records Society, volume 147. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate. ASINB004H4IXPO.
Beeler, John, ed. The Milne Papers: The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, Bt., K.C.B. (1806-1896), vol. 2, The Royal Navy and the Outbreak of the American Civil War, 1860-1862 (Publications of the Navy Records Society Series. Routledge, 2016). 760 pp. ISBN 978-1-4094-4686-6. online review
Courtemanche, Regis A. (1977). No Need of Glory: The British Navy in American Waters 1860-1864. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-0870214936.