author
William Sowden Sims
1858–1936
A blunt, energetic naval reformer, he pushed the U.S. Navy to modernize its gunnery and tactics long before World War I. He later led American naval forces in European waters and wrote vividly about the war at sea.
1 Audiobook
The Victory At Sea
by William Sowden Sims, Burton Jesse Hendrick
About the author
Born in Port Hope, Ontario, on October 15, 1858, William Sowden Sims was the son of American parents and went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880. Early in his career he built a reputation as a sharp observer and tireless critic of outdated naval practice, especially in gunnery, where his insistence on better training and more accurate fire helped drive major reforms.
Sims became one of the most influential officers in the U.S. Navy during a period of rapid change. During World War I, he commanded United States naval forces operating in Europe, where he played a major part in cooperation with the British and in the struggle against German submarine attacks. He also served twice as president of the Naval War College, reflecting the Navy's respect for both his fighting experience and his strategic mind.
He was not a quiet or cautious figure; admirers saw him as a necessary reformer, while others found him combative. That energy carried into his writing as well. His book The Victory at Sea won the Pulitzer Prize for History, and it remains part memoir, part argument, and part firsthand account of naval war and leadership. Sims died in Boston on September 28, 1936.