Archibald Berkeley Milne

Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, Bt
Rear-Admiral Milne, as photographed by Queen Alexandra
Born	2 June 1855
Died	4 July 1938
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMY Osborne Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/wars	Anglo-Zulu War World War I
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir (Archibald) Berkeley Milne, 2nd Baronet GCVO KCB (2 June 1855 – 4 July 1938) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the First World War.

Milne was the son of distinguished admiral, Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet, and grandson of Vice-Admiral Sir David Milne. In 1879 he became aide-de-camp to Lord Chelmsford during the Zulu Wars, being fortunate enough to have been separated from the main army at the time of the massacre of British forces at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879.

In 1891 with the rank of captain he accepted command of HMY Osborne, despite the normal rank for the officer in charge of such a ship being only 'commander'. While some officers only accepted short postings to royal yachts, fearing the effect on their careers of sinecure postings, Milne regarded it as a career path to flag rank. After a regular command of the cruiser Venus, which served on the Mediterranean Station, he was in December 1900 appointed in command of the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Jupiter, of the Channel Fleet. He was back in royal service when he became flag officer commanding H. M. Yachts from 1903 to 1905, being promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1904. During this time, he became a friend of King Edward VII and of Queen Alexandra, who called him "Arky-Barky". His hobbies were described as collecting rare orchids and entertaining royal ladies. Milne enjoyed the formal atmosphere of service in the royal squadron, with its emphasis on ceremony, spit and polish.