The Victory at Sea

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1921. Hardcover. xiii, [1], 410, frontis illustration. Maps. Tables. Appendix. Index. Rear hinge weak. Ink notation on fep. William Sowden Sims (October 15, 1858 – September 25, 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. In March 1897, shortly after his promotion to lieutenant, Sims was assigned as the military attache to Paris and St. Petersburg. In this position he became aware of naval technology developments in Europe as well attaining familiarity with European politics which would assist him during WWI. Burton Hendrick won the Pulitzer Prize for History for The Victory at Sea, which he co-authored with William Sowden Sims, the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, and the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for The Training of An American. The commander of U.S. naval forces operating in European waters during the WWI, Sims offers an authoritative account of the U.S. Navy's role in the war. Rear Admiral Sims explains the significance of submarine warfare, and its role in the defeat of Germany. The U.S. Navy's campaign was shrouded in secrecy at the time. Admiral Sims, head of the Naval War College when WWI broke out, was a brilliant gunnery reformer and Anglophile whose service in London ideally suited him to compose this history of the naval campaigns of the Great War. He was in charge of American naval forces in Europe for the duration of the war. He first won fame as a lieutenant on duty in China in 1902. After being rebuffed by his superiors when he made suggestions for improvement in gunnery practice, he is reported to have gone over their heads and claimed directly to President Theodore Roosevelt that American gunnery was hopelessly inaccurate. Roosevelt called him back to become inspector of naval target practice. Condition: Fair.

Keywords: WW1, Naval, Lewis Bayly, Convoy System, Listening Devices, Submarines, Walter Hines Page, Mystery Ships, Subchasers, U-boats, Destroyers, Mine Barrage, Antisubmarine Warfare

[Book #6772]

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