published in
Vanity Fair in 1903 May became Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes at the Admiralty in January 1901 and, having been promoted to
rear admiral on 28 March 1901, he became
Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy in April 1901. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief,
Atlantic Fleet, with his flag in the battleship , in February 1905. he was appointed a Grand Officer of the French
Legion of Honour on 5 September 1905 and a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 29 June 1906. May became
Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1907 and in that capacity threatened to resign if the
Liberal Government cut the naval estimates any further. he became Commander-in-Chief,
Home Fleet, with his flag in the battleship , in March 1909. In that capacity he encouraged innovative ways of organising his huge fleet including the deployment of cruising formations, the use of fast squadrons and tactical command at squadron level rather than fleet level. He went on to be
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in April 1911 and was advanced to
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 19 June 1911. He was promoted to
Admiral of the Fleet on 20 March 1913. May served in the
First World War in an administrative capacity, as a member of the
Dardanelles Commission tasked with examining the failure of
Gallipoli campaign, as a member of the Reconstruction Committee tasked with considering post-war expenditure reductions and as a member of a fisheries committee. He retired in 1919 and died on 7 October 1930 at his home, Bughtrig House in
Coldstream in
Berwickshire. ==Family==