VICE-ADMIRAL SIMS

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 152, 27 June 1917, Page 8

VICE-ADMIRAL SIMS

AMERICAN NAVAL COMMANDER

DISCIPLE OF SIR PERCY SCOTT.

i Vice-Admiral William B. Sims, the officer ."in chaise of the United States destroyer force in British waters, and temporarily in command of the Irish naval station—an unprecedented position for an American officer—was promoted cfrom the rank of Rear-Admiral in the Jbtter part, of this month. There is only one other officer of this : rank—ViceAdmiral Dewitt Coffman—in the United States Navy. Admiral Sims received his promotion in recognition of the services rendered since he went to London fo perfect the a,rrangements for joint naval acticiri between the. United States, Great Britain, and France, says the New York Times. Admiral Sims, who is S9 l years old," was, a lieutenant when the Spanish-American war broke out, and ji-as naval attache at Pniris, where he Stcted with success as buyer of ships and supplies for his navy. In 1900 he was retailed and sent to the Asiatic Station in the battleship Kentucky; and later he fcecame fleet intelligence officer on that station. He then met Admiral Sir Percy ScOtt (then Captain), whose ship had been making remarkable , scores under She methods of its commander; and he feetame familiar with these methods and passed them on-to the American Navy. In^ 1902 ho was .put in chaTge of the office of naval practice, and during the •seven years ■■he spent in that position the fleet made great progress in_ its gunnery. During that period Lieut. •Sims made several trips Ho England, so 'ias to keep in touch with the latest developments. • After commanding the battleship Minnesota for two years and spending two years at a naval college, lio* was ' made:: commander of the torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet, |pd two and a-half years later (in 1915) fook command, o£ the new battleship Nevada. A year, later he was made president of-the Naval War College and .fommandaiit of. the Second Naval District. He was. promoted to Rear-Admiral last August, being one of the first capXa.ui& promoted to this rank by selection. fust before the United States formally eclared war Admiral Sims was sent Abroad as special representative and observer, and when it was.decided to send American war .vessels abroad he was put in .charge of their operations.