The collection covers the careers of Sir David Milne, Sir Alexander Milne and Sir Archiballd Berkeley Milne. MLN/1-42 consist of logs, 1779 to 1780, 1788 to 1790, 1793 to 1796, 1799 to 1802 and 1814. There is a collection of ship's books for La Seine, which includes a surgeon's journal kept by John Martin, 1799 to 1800. There are also letterbooks, 1804 to 1807 and 1808 to 1815. For the period of the North American command there is an out letterbook and order book, 1816 to 1819, and as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, a standing order book, 1842 to 1843. In addition, there are many letters concerning prizes, 1799, letters received, 1819 to 1842, and drafts of letters to Lord Melville (q.v.), 1819, and Lord Dalhousie (1770-1838), 1818 to 1819. Several documents with no immediate connection with Milne are also in the collection. They include the log of the Prince George, Captain Nathaniel Portlock, 1785 to 1787, on a voyage to the North Pacific; the log of the Africa, Alexander Purvis, 1793 to 1796, and the log of the United States privateer, Harlequin, 1814.
MLN/101-199 consist of logs, 1817 to 1827 and 1837 to 1839, letterbooks, 1827 to 1839, and letters and papers, 1838 to 1847. There are also several ship's books relating to the Snake and the Crocodile. For the North American command there are official out-letterbooks, letters received and memoranda to squadrons, 1860 to 1864, as well as private letters from the Duke of Somerset (1804-1885), First Lord of the Admiralty, and to and from Sir Frederick Grey (1805-1878), First Naval Lord, between 1861 and 1862. There are also notebooks and sailing orders for this period. For the Mediterranean Command there are letterbooks, general and squadron memoranda and sailing orders, 1869 to 1870. For his period at the Admiralty there are copies of private and semi-official letters, 1854 to 1855, 1869 and 1873 to 1876, and letters to his brother, David Milne Home, 1820 to 1847. There are a considerable number of official papers relating to the loss of the Megaera and the Captain and the first, second and third Reports of the Royal Commissioners appointed to enquire into the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, 1882. Finally there are diaries for 1825, 1833 to 1835, 1837, 1840 to 1841, 1843 to 1845, 1849 and 1870.
MLN/200-233 consist of logs, 1870 to 1875, 1879 to 1881 and 1889 to 1893, and a notebook of events in Egypt in 1882. A section of papers is devoted to the Zulu War. For Milne's later career there are copies of correspondence with Lord Charles Beresford, 1910, and letters and papers relating to the Mediterranean command, 1913 to 1914. There is a detailed section on the escape of the Goeben and the Breslau, including signal logs, telegrams received from the Admiralty, diaries, official correspondence and press cuttings. There are also several uncompleted private diaries, 1870, 1879, 1886, 1913 to 1919, and personal letters, 1879 to 1936.

Administrative / biographical background
Admiral Sir David Milne first saw service in the American War of Independence and was present at Hood’s action with de Grasse in 1782 and Rodney’s victory in April of that year at the Saints. Again in the West Indies at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, he distinguished himself when a lieutenant in the ‘Blanche’ at various cutting out expeditions. He was also involved in the capture of the ‘Pique’ which he later commanded and then wrecked during the capture of the ‘Seine’ in 1798. He was then immediately given command of the ‘Seine’ in which, in 1800, he captured the ‘Vengeance’. At his own request he went as second-in-command under Lord Exmouth in the expedition against Algiers in 1816. At the bombardment of Algiers in 1816 he was again second-in-command to Exmouth, where his flagship the ‘Impregnable’ sustained heavy damage and casualties. Sir Alexander Milne was the second son of naval officer Sir David Milne, he had a long and successful career in the post Napoleonic and Victorian navies. He was not involved in any great drama with the possible exception of the loss of the revolutionary masted turret ship ‘Captain’, which was launched in 1869, during his command of the combined Channel fleet and Mediterranean fleet exercises in 1870. When asked to comment on the ‘Captain’s’ performance he expressed his dissatisfaction to the designer, about the way the sea washed freely over the lee side of the upper deck. However he did not appreciate the potential danger of this design flaw which led to a low freeboard. Consequently he did not issue any orders restricting the amount of canvas she carried and that year she capsized with the loss of nearly 500 lives. It was subsequently established that the ship had indeed been fundamentally unstable. Late in 1872 Milne returned to the Admiralty board as senior naval lord, where he served until 1876, under both Gladstone and Disraeli. After leaving office, on 1 November 1876, Milne was created a baronet. In 1879 he served as chairman of Lord Carnarvon's royal commission on the defence of British possessions and commerce abroad. Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, son of Sir Alexander Milne (q.v.) entered the Navy in 1869 and served in the Channel and the Mediterranean in the Trafalgar and then in the Royal Alfred, flagship in the North America and West Indies Station. He went to the Sirius, Newfoundland Division of the Station, in 1873 and afterwards to the Raleigh in the Channel, West Indies and at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1875 he became a sub-lieutenant and a lieutenant in the following year. He next joined the Tourmaline, Cape Station, transferring later to the Active and the Boadicea. During the Zulu War of 1879 he served with the Naval Brigade. Between 1879 and 1882 he was in the Minotaur in the Channel, going then to the Mediterranean, and once again serving on shore during the Egyptian operation. Having been promoted to commander in 1884, Milne served in the Royal Yacht before going again to the Channel Squadron in the Minotaur, 1886. He turned over to the Northumberland, also in the Channel Squadron, 1887 to 1889. From 1889 to 1893 he commanded the Royal Yacht Osborne, being promoted to captain in 1891. After service in the Mediterranean and the Channel, he became a rear-admiral in 1904 and second-in-command, Atlantic Fleet, in 1905. He commanded the Second Division of the Home Fleet until 1910. In 1912 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, his term of office expiring soon after the outbreak of war in 1914; short as his period of office was during the hostilities, it included the escape of the Goeben and the Breslau into Turkish waters. Consequently, Milne was not employed again, his appointment to the Nore being cancelled. Despite his vigorous efforts to justify his conduct, Milne was unable to reverse this decision. He wrote a book defending his actions, 'The flight of the Goeben and Breslau' (London, 1914).