naval aide-de-camp to the King on 8 November 1922. Promoted to rear admiral on 1 November 1923, he became second-in-command of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet with his flag in the battleship HMS Resolution in May 1924. After attending the senior officers' war course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he became commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in the cruiser HMS Frobisher in September 1926. After a tour with his squadron on the China Station and promotion to vice admiral on 12 June 1928, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Reserve Fleet with his flag in the light cruiser HMS Constance in December 1928 and President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in April 1929. He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 3 June 1931. Promoted to full admiral on 1 November 1932, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet flying his flag in the battleship HMS Nelson in March 1933. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 16 July 1935. Boyle succeeded his cousin as Earl of Cork and Orrery and Baron Boyle of Marston in 1934 and attended the funeral of King George V in January 1936. He was appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 12 July 1936 and attended the coronation of King George VI in May 1937. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in July 1937 and, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 21 January 1938, was still "...exceedingly fit and full of energy and drive." Second World War Lord Cork served in the Second World War initially as head of planning for Operation Catherine, a naval offensive in the Baltic Sea proposed by Winston Churchill which aimed to cut off the flow of iron ore from Sweden and isolate Germany from Scandinavian trade. The operation was intended to take place in the spring of 1940 but was abandoned in January 1940. Cork then became commander designate of a planned Anglo-French expedition to assist the Finns in the Winter War they were waging against a Soviet attack: Finland agreed to Soviet terms in March 1940 and this expedition was also called off. In April 1940 Cork was given command of a naval force with a mission to retake the strategic port of Narvik in Norway