Evening Star Newspaper, September 29, 1936, Page 7

ARLINGTONBURAL FORADHIAL NS Roosevelt Lauds World War Fieet Commander, Dead at 7. By the Assoclated Press. BOSTON, September 29.—“Taps” will sound in Arlington National Cemetery Thursday for Admiral Wil- liam Sowden Sims, caustic-tongued commander of America’s European fleet in the World War. Admiral Sims, who “taught the Navy how to shoot,” died here late yesterday at the age of 77, ending after 14 years' retirement a career " which President Roosevelt described es a “remarkable period of service to bis country.” That service encompassed 42 years, during which Sims unsparingly at- tacked naval weaknesses and fre- Quently met attacks upon himself. Burial in Arlington with all naval honors will be the Nations final tribute to the man who refused a Dis- tinguished Service Medal in 1919 on the ground it had been awarded to others unwisely. President Roosevelt, former Assis- tant Secretary of the Navy, was “deeply grieved” at his Hyde Park home. He said Admiral Sims’ death *“marks the closing of a brilliant and eolorful career in the Navy, the end ©of a remarkable period of service to his country. Dynamic and forceful, he was admired and respected by friend and foe alike.” “He was the central figure in almost every great naval controversy during his time,” Admiral William H. Stand- ley, chief of naval operations, recalled after he learned of Sims’ fatal heart attack. “The entire Navy will deeply regret his passing.” - Record of Service. Admiral Sims was for more than 20 years one of the most eruptive, and at the same time perhaps one of the most constructive figures ever identi- fled with the naval establishment of the United States. Unable, apparently, to abide by the tradition that a naval officer should execute orders and hold his tongue, Admiral Sims was almost constantly in hot water, and several High Spot the American Embassy or mingled in official circles. The service record of Admiral Sims shows that he was assigned to the U. S. 8. Philadelphia upon his return | to the United States, and that he was naval attache at Parls and Petrograd from 1897 to 1900; that he had charge of secret service work in Spain, Rus- sia and Italy during the Spanish- American War, and that all these du- ties were performed well. He was 43 years old at that time and had not risen above the grade of lieutenant. It was while stationed in China that Sims really introduced himself to the Navy Department at Washington. The introduction was made in the form of lengthy reports, most of which were insubordinately critical of naval equip- times, figuratively speaking, he was badly scalded: yet the merit behind his attacks on almost every branch of the Navy, and the audacity of the methods he employed to launch them, would invariably win for him the sup- port of a sympathetic public or an understanding Chief Executive, and thus it was that the much-feared fconoclast marked up victory after victory over those who suffered most from the vitrolic nature of his bom- bardments. He had no seafaring antecedents on either side, and displayed no interest for the Navy as a boy. He often re- counted the circumstances under which he entered the Naval Academy to show that the beginning of his career was nothing more than the merest whim. There had for several years been difficulty in securing candidates for Annapolis, and when the Congress member in Sim's district, back in 1875, began looking for a likely boy " to nominate for the training school, only three responded, one being Sim'’s older brother. Competitive examina- tions were held, but the successful | candidates failed to pass the physical | tests, and Sim’s brother was ruled out because he was too old. It was then that the future admiral decided to try his luck, but he failed to get through the paper work and | was denied admittance. At the end of a year, however, he elected to try | again, but when the superintendent of Annapolis heard of this, he re- quested the Representative not to appoint & boy who had fallen so far short of the requirements only a year | the fleet be ordered out for target ment and naval administration. Most | Americans at that time thought the | United States sea arm was hardly sec- !ond to the best, but Sims, a minor ;omcer stationed beyond the borders { of the country, began to tell them that | the American Navy was a joke. One British ship, he said, could easily | dispose of four or five American ves- | sels of corresponding type. | ~The reports multiplied when Sims | went to Petrograd. For months they | were dumped at the rate of two or | three a day on the indignant naval | officials at Washington. In 1901 Sims submited a report on the faulty construction of American | battleships, which later was recog- nized as one of the most important documents in the history of the Navy. Its receipt was not acknowledged, and for three years it was lost. It was ultimately discovered in the desk of a bureau chief. Most of his other re- ports were consigned to the flames. Accused of insubordination, and more than once barely escaping courte martial, Sims decided to take his case to a higher power. He wrote to Theo- dore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secre- tary of the Navy, and suggested that practice. Much to the surprise of all who knew of Sim’s epistolary cam- | paign, the entire Atlantic Fleet was sent out on an appointed day to try | its hand at sinking a condemned sail- ing ship. At a little more than half & mile from the target the vessels began blazing away, but after firing thousands of projectiles the old wind- jammer remained intact. She had | two holes in her sails. Appeal to President. before. “There must be more promis- ing candidates available,” he wrote. Without heeding the request, the Representative put young Sims up | again, and he passed. just scraped in,” was the admiral’s way of de- scribing his triumph. In 1880 he | finished twenty-eighth in a class of 56. | Sims lost interest in the Navy and | secured a leave of absence for the purpose of visiting Paris. He remained in France more than a year, seeking to perfect himself in the language. He | spent his time entirely out of touch with the Navy and never went nnr! Yet even this demonstration failed to move the Navy Department to action. Several years passed, and in the meantime Roosevelt had been sent to the White House. He appealed di- rectly to President Roosevelt through the mails. It was a historical com- munication. It told of all the previous | reports, and made many and varied | suggestions for improvements in ;he“ Navy. “Get me all those reports,” was Roosevelt’s command when he read the audacious letter. He immedi- the allies in 1918. Left to right: ately ordered another target practice, THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1936. in Admiral Sims’ War Service Admiral William S. Sims, who died yesterday, shown with other high commanders of the World War on board the U. S. S. New York when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered to Admiral Beatty of England, Admiral Redman, the late King George of England, King Edward, then Prince of Wales, and Admiral Sims. —Underwood & Underwood Photo. and found that there had been vir- tually no improvement in marksman- ship. The American gunners made 13 per cent of hits, while the British navy was averaging from 80 to 85 per cent. “Cable to China for that young man to come home at once,” Roosevelt told the Navy. “Give him entire charge of target practice for i8 months; do exactly as he says. Lieut. Sims thus became inspector of target practice— a position he held for more than six years. At the expiration of that time the American gunners were by actual comparison the best in the world. Roosevelt, in an official communica- tion issued in 1909, said: “Comdr. Sims has done more for target practice than any other man in the United States. Meanwhile Sims had shifted his at- tack to other and more glaring faults of the Navy. He began calling atten- tion to ship construction. Picking out the old battleship Kentucky, he de- clared: “She is not a battleship at all. She is the worst crime in naval construc- 0000000000060006000000000 Novelty Net Curtains $ 22540450 Pr. bz o * yards long PS Makes @ Complete Window Treat- ment. Many Patterns and Colors. @ §MCD evirs Drarery Swor$ #1317 F St. New Location DI, 32"§ v i 3rd Floor American Building 0000000000000 000000000. * * * * * : When a MASTER PAINTER —uses Davis Pure Paint Prod- ucts you cen depend en his giving you the most for your money—in beauty, pro- tection and durability. ToRE PAINT PRODUCTS 7 F BALTIMORE RELIEVE CONSTIPATION Laxate * with o100e1.D.Co. ¥ THE LAXATIVE “Relesse accumulated wastes easily and plessantly. tion ever perpetrated on the white race.” As was the case in his attacks on al i B the the gunnery, the new series of reports went unnoticed. Finally he decided upon a course even more audacious. He would take his case directly to the American people. He communi- cated with his friend, Henry Reuter- dahl, marine architect, and aided him in the preparation of a series of arti- cles pointing out the defects of Ameri- can naval ships. The first installment appeared in a publication of national scope at a dramatic moment—just as the American Navy started on its his- toric cruise around the world in 1908. For weeks the newspapers talked of little else, and the magazine received tons of clippings referring to its “un- patriotic article.” Suspicion immedi- ately settled on Comdr. Sims, and even the United States Senate started an investigation. Up to President Again. When Sims received a letter from the department demanding an expla- nation of his conduct, he took it to President Roosevelt. After Sims had left Roosevelt sent for the Secretary of the Navy and ordered him to drop all court-martial proceedings. The Senate, too, which had started an investigation with an idea of refuting the Sims charges, soon realized that they rested on a firm foundation and accordingly abandoned its attempt to sift the case. THe modern American Navy is said to date from the first Reuterdahl ar- ticle. Many of the old ships were re- built, There was considerable surprise when it was discovered in 1910 that he had no scruples against taking a hand in international relations and affairs of state. His first venture into this fleld, as well as his subsequent ones, caused the Washington Gov=~ ernment to chafe for many days un- der the lash of public disapproval, and finally called forth a reprimand from President Taft. The American fleet had been sent on a friendly visit to France and England, but had received no instruc- tions to include Germany. This the Germans regarded in the light of » gwic! ir’ and n. - e »JWY BEAU GESTE Hats--- STETSON Chatge K.. Fall Hats CAMPUS HALL Hats =—- something approaching an insult, hence the situation was extremely delicate. It was made infinitely worse, however, when Admiral Sims, speak- ing at a luncheon to American sailors at the Guildhall, concluded as fol- lows: “If the time ever comes when the British Empire is serfously menaced by & European coalition, your people can count upon every ship, every dol- lar, every man and every drop of blood of your kindred across the sea.” War Assignment. Sims was appointed president of the War College early in 1917, but on the outbreak of the World War he was given command of all American destroyers operating from British bases. He was designated later by Con- gress to command a large fleet and authorized to assume the rank of vice admiral. In June of the same year he was given the title of com- mander, United States naval forces operating in European waters, with additional duties as naval attache in London. In 1918 he was promoted to the rank of admiral and throughout the war remained commander of the American fleets in the active war zone. He returned to the United States in 1919 and resumed his place as presi- dent of the War College, which re- stored him to his former rank of rear admiral. Sims was immensely popular in England, and when he left the Brit- ish gave him a demonstration such as they never before had given a foreign naval officer, For several months Sims was in command of the Allied submarine chasers off the Irish coast. The fleet was made up largely of British vessels. Returning to America Sims lost much of his popularity when he sub- mitted a report to the Senate Naval Affairs Committee alleging grave er= rors on the part of the administra- tion and the Naval Board in the man- the war. He caused another wave of protest, both public and military, when he declined to accept a Distinguished Service Medal in 1919 because, as he agement of naval operations during | said, the medal had been conferred upon those who were not deserving of the distinction and had been de- nied many others who were entitled to it. Although he was recommended by Secretary Daniels for the life rank of admiral, the honor never was con- ferred. He was made full admiral by later legislation. He retired from the Navy ‘n October, 1922, upon reaching the age limit of 64. He had spent 42 years in the active service—24 years at ses and 18 on land. In 1921 Admiral Sims made a speech in London, when he was quoted as say- ing that the Sinn Fein hampered the work of Allied troops in the war and “attacked us indirectly.” The speech stirred a wave of pro- test almost as far-reaching as that which followed his 1910 declaration, and resulted in Secretary Denby of the Navy recalling him to Washington. After the charges had been investi- gated, Sims was publicly reprimanded by the Naval Secretary. “I got what I deserved,” he said. Admiral Sims was born in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, October 15, 1858. His father, a civil engineer, whose family had been established in Pennsylvania nearly 200 years, went to Canada to construct certain harbor improvements, and while there met and married a Canadian girl of Port Hope. William 8. Sims | was not taken to the Pennsylvania home of his father until he was nearly 10 years of age. In 1905 Admiral Sims married Anne Hitcheock, daughter of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, one time Secretary of the Interior. 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