Simsadus: London; The American Navy in Europe
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1920. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 23 cm. ix, [3], 169,[3] pages. Illustrations. Diagrams Front board weak Endpapers discolored. Boards somewhat worn and soiled Edges soiled. U.S. Navy involvement in Europe during World War I, and the submarines in that action. The author was a member of the Intelligence Section of Admiral Sims' staff in London during World War I, and in that capacity gained access to the inside story of the anti-submarine strategy. The book covers the establishment of bases, the barrages, submarine tactics, and the methods and intelligence employed to put the enemy subs in check. Leighton provides a great deal of data, including lists of Allied and enemy sinkings, charts of submarine movements, and straightforward debunking of the myriad embellished stories of submarine encounters and kills. He addresses the role of the chasers in the proper place, and attributes two submarine kills to chasers: one on 18 June 1918 in Corfu, and one at Durazzo during the engagement on 2 October 1918. Leighton makes these claims in the context of evidence of attacks correlated with submarine intelligence: The British military had been tracking the locations of the subs, by triangulating bearings of radio signals sent by enemy subs and picked up by multiple British listening stations. The bearing of the signal was discernible, and hence the British Navy was able to locate the subs with rather good accuracy. This information, coupled with information from secret agents as to which subs had returned to base when, was used to compile Leighton's list of confirmed kills: four by the Americans. As an overview of the submarine threat and the American response, this is an excellent source. William Sowden Sims (October 15, 1858 – September 28, 1936) was an admiral in the United States Navy who fought during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to modernize the navy. During World War I he commanded all United States naval forces operating in Europe. He also served twice as president of the Naval War College. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1880, the beginnings of an era of naval reform and greater professionalization. Commodore Stephen B. Luce founded the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island in 1884, to be the service's professional school. During the same era, Naval War College instructor Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was writing influential books on naval strategy and sea power. In March 1897, shortly after his promotion to lieutenant, Sims was assigned as the military attaché to Paris and St. Petersburg. In this position he became aware of naval technology developments in Europe as well gaining familiarity with European politics which would greatly assist him during World War I. He was in this assignment during the Spanish–American War during which Sims was able to use his diplomatic connections to gain information on Spain and its high-ranking officials. Just before the U.S. entered the war, the Wilson administration sent him to London as the senior naval representative. After the U.S. entry in April 1917, Sims was given command over U.S. naval forces operating from Britain. He received a temporary promotion to vice admiral in May 1917. The major threat he faced was a highly effective German submarine campaign against freighters bringing vital food and munitions to the Allies. The combined Anglo-American naval war against U-boats in the western approaches to the British Isles in 1917–18 was a success due to ability of Sims to work smoothly with his British counterpart, Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly. Sims believed the Navy Department in Washington, which was effectively headed by Assistant Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt, was failing to provide him with sufficient authority, information, autonomy, manpower, and naval forces. He ended the war as a vice admiral, in command of all U.S. naval forces operating in Europe. His account of the U.S. naval effort during World War I, The Victory at Sea,[4] won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for History. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Naval Bases, Troopships, Antisubmarine War, WW1, William Sims, Naval Aviation, Bantry Bay, Submarines, Naval Gun Batteries
[Book #28560]
Price: $100.00