Sims, William Sowden, 1858-1936

William S. Sims, U.S. Navy admiral, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1882. He was president of the naval War College in 1917 and from 1919-1922. During WWI, he was CO, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe

From the description of Letter, January 8, 1918. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 731199382

William S. Sims was born in 1858 in Port Hope, Ontario. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880. He served as president of the naval War College, 1917, 1919-1922 and during WWI was CO of US Naval Forces in European waters. Sims wrote on naval matters and worked to improve naval gunnery and naval construction. He died in Boston, MA in 1936.

From the description of Letter, April 9, 1929. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 739102949

From the description of Letter, February 25, 1924. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 733263270

Navigation journal kept by Ensign Sims in USS Saratoga, 1891-1892, with later entries in 1896 and 1897. The journal contains navigation problems with detailed explanations, together with drawings and mathematical calculations. The journal was meant to serve as a guide to sailors. Prints of ships are tipped in the volume and a small silk U.S. flag is contained therein.

From the description of Navigation journal, 1891-1892, 1896-1897. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 707728840

William S. Sims, U.S. Naval Officer, was born in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880. He was president of the Naval War College, 1917, 1919-1922 and CO, U.S. Naval Forces, European waters, 1917-1918.

From the description of Letter, October 16, 1924. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 742576317

From the description of Letter, June, 1935. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 46383164

From the description of Letter, January 29, 1921. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 17914007

From the description of Letter, April 15, 1928. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 17974870

Sims earned his Harvard AB in 1933 and his AM in 1937.

From the description of Papers in Government 8b, 1934-1935. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 228511649

Naval officer.

From the description of William Sowden Sims papers, 1856-1951 (bulk 1900-1936). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71060530

William Sowden Sims, U.S. Naval officer, was born in Port Hope, Ontario on October 15, 1858. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880 and served in the China Station, as naval attaché in Paris and St. Petersburg, 1887-1900, and as naval aide to President Theodore Roosevelt, 1908-1909. He attended the naval War College in 1911-1913, and served as its president in 1917 and 1919-1922. He was CO, U.S. Naval Forces, European Waters, 1917-1919. Author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book Victory at Sea, he died on September 28, 1936.

From the description of Papers, 1876-1925. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 759396225

William S. Sims, U.S. naval officer, was born in Port Hope, Ontario in 1858. He served as president of the Naval War College in 1917 and from 1919-1922. He was naval representative to Great Britain in 1917 and received command of US forces in European waters after war was declared in April of that year.

From the description of Letter, May 16, 1917. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 730446569

William S. Sims, Admiral, was born in 1858 and died in 1936. He was CO of U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, 1917-1918, and president of the Naval War College, 1919-1922.

From the description of Letter, 1920. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 17928621

Biographical Note

• 1858, Oct. 15: Born, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada
• 1880: Graduated., United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
• 1895 - 1896 : Intelligence officer, Charleston on the China Station
• 1896 - 1900 : Naval attaché, Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; and St. Petersburg, Russia
• 1900 - 1902 : Duty in the Kentucky, Monterey, and Brooklyn on the China Station and on the staff of commander in chief, Asiatic Fleet
• 1902 - 1909 : Inspector of target practice, Bureau of Navigation
• 1905: Married Anne Hitchcock
• 1909 - 1911 : Commanded Minnesota
• 1911 - 1913 : Student and instructor, United States Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
• 1913 - 1915 : Commanded Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet
• 1915 - 1917 : Commanded Nevada
• 1917: Promoted to rear admiral President, United States Naval War College Commandant, Second Naval District Sent on secret advisory mission to Europe
• 1917 - 1919 : Commanded U.S. naval forces in European theater
• 1919 - 1922 : President, United States Naval War College
• 1920: Published with Burton J. Hendrick The Victory at Sea. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday
• 1922: Retired from U.S. Navy
• 1934: Published “Promotion by Selection,” in Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, 60 (June 1934)
• 1935: Published Promotion by Selection in the Navy. Boston: Mass.
• 1936, Sept. 26: Died, Boston, Mass.

From the guide to the William Sowden Sims Papers, 1856-1951, (bulk 1900-1936), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

William Sowden Sims (1858-1936) was born to American parents in Port Hope, Ontario, on October 15, 1858. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880 and went on to become a respected admiral in the Navy. Sims served as a naval aide to President Theodore Roosevelt from 1908-1909 and later served as the president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1917 and 1919-1922. During World War I (1914-1918), Sims served as the commanding officer for all U.S. naval forces in European waters from 1917-1919. His account of the U.S. naval effort during that war, The Victory at sea, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1921. Admiral William Sowden Sims died on September 28, 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts.

From the guide to the William Sowden Sims papers, Sims (William Sowden) papers, undated, (Redwood Library and Athenaeum)