Promoted to commander on 1 January 1898,[1] Limpus was posted to the protected cruiser HMS Terrible when it was commissioned in September 1899 under Captain Percy Scott.

The ship was intended for service at the China Station, but was delayed in South Africa following the outbreak of the Second Boer War.

Following the end of the war in June 1902, Gibraltar toured the East Coast of Africa, visiting Zanzibar with seven Royal Navy ships for a show of force following death of the sultan and the accession of his son in July 1902,[5] and Kenya in August.

[6] Limpus was appointed Naval Member of the Ordnance Committee in July 1905 and commanding officer of the battleship HMS Albion in October 1907.

[7] Promoted to rear admiral on 23 January 1909,[8] he was appointed head of the British naval mission to the Ottoman Empire in May 1912.