[2] He became Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in November 1928, and having been promoted to vice admiral on 9 October 1929,[8] he became Commander of the 1st Battle Squadron and Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1932.

[9] Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1933 New Year Honours,[10] he was promoted to full admiral on 11 February 1934[11] and became Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS Nelson, on 20 August 1935.

[9] Two months later, when being flown back from London to Portsmouth, his Supermarine Walrus aircraft made a bad landing and began to sink; he and the crew had to be rescued, leaving him uninjured but shaken.

[13] Advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1938 New Year Honours[14] and appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 1 July,[15] Backhouse became First Sea Lord on 7 September 1938.

[9] With failing health, he resigned as First Sea Lord in May 1939 and, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 29 June 1939, he died from a brain tumour in London on 15 July 1939 just before the outbreak of the Second World War.