Career William Sims

1 career

1.1 gunnery
1.2 first world war
1.3 attack on daniels

career

sims born american parents living in port hope, ontario, canada. graduated united states naval academy in 1880, beginnings of era of naval reform , greater professionalization. commodore stephen b. luce founded naval war college in newport, rhode island in 1884, service s professional school. during same era, naval war college instructor captain alfred thayer mahan writing influential books on naval strategy , sea power.

in march 1897, shortly after promotion lieutenant, sims assigned military attache paris , st. petersburg. in position became aware of naval technology developments in europe attaining familiarity european politics assist him during world war i. in assignment during spanish–american war during sims able use diplomatic connections gain information on spain , high-ranking officials.

gunnery

as young officer, sims sought reform naval gunnery improving target practice. superiors resisted suggestions, failing see necessity. hindered low rank. in 1902, sims wrote directly president theodore roosevelt. president, had served assistant secretary of navy, intrigued sims ideas , made him navy s inspector of naval gunnery on november 5, 1902, shortly after sims promoted lieutenant commander. promoted commander in 1907.

from 1911 1912, sims attended naval war college. promoted captain in 1911, became commander, atlantic destroyer flotilla in july 1913.

on march 11, 1916, sims became first captain of battleship uss nevada. nevada largest, modern , powerful ship in u.s. navy @ time. sims selection captain shows esteem in sims held in navy.

first world war

shortly before united states entered world war i, rear admiral sims assigned president of naval war college in newport, rhode island in february 1917. before u.s. entered war, wilson administration sent him london senior naval representative. after u.s. entry in april 1917, sims given command on u.s. naval forces operating britain. received temporary promotion vice admiral in may 1917.

the major threat faced highly effective german submarine campaign against freighters bringing vital food , munitions allies. combined anglo-american naval war against u-boats in western approaches british isles in 1917-18 success due ability of sims work smoothly british counterpart, admiral sir lewis bayly.

sims believed navy department in washington, headed assistant secretary franklin d. roosevelt, failing provide him sufficient authority, information, autonomy, manpower, , naval forces.

he ended war vice admiral, in command of u.s. naval forces operating in europe. shortly after armistice, sims promoted temporary admiral in december 1918 reverted permanent rank of rear admiral in april 1919 when assigned president of naval war college.

attack on daniels

in 1919 after war ended in allied victory, sims publicly attacked deficiencies of american naval strategy, tactics, policy, , administration. charged failures had cost allies 2,500,000 tons of supplies, thereby prolonging war 6 months. estimated delay had raised cost of war allies $15 billion, , led unnecessary loss of 500,000 lives. secretary of navy josephus daniels more of politician naval strategist, ably countered accusations. pointed sims anglophilism , said vantage point in london narrow assess accurately overall war effort u.s. navy. daniels cited prewar naval preparations , strategy proposals made other american leaders during war disprove sims charges.

despite public acrimony, sims emerged reputation unharmed , served second tour president of naval war college (1919–1922). during time naval war college wrote , published book victory @ sea describes experiences in world war i. in 1921 victory @ sea won pulitzer prize history. sims is, possibly, career naval officer win pulitzer prize. (rear admiral samuel e. morison won 2 pulitzer prizes served 9 years in naval reserve.)