Commander Bio:William Sims (1858-1936) was an admiral of the United States Navy (1918) and one of the main reformers of the American fleet. In the first decades of the 20th century, he made the U.S. Navy one of the strongest fleets in the world. He was the Navy's Inspector of Naval Gunnery, committed to improving the designs of American battleships and reforming their gunnery based on the recent advances in European naval architecture. Later on, he commanded a destroyer flotilla and the newest battleship, Nevada.
When the United States joined World War I in 1917, he took command of all United States' naval forces in Europe. He established fruitful cooperation with the British Command, and it was thanks to this that American ships actively took part in the naval operations of the Allies, contributing a great deal to their common victory. After the war, he became the president of the brain of the fleet-Naval War College-where he introduced wargames into the system of preparation of flag officers. This allowed the future naval commanders of World War II to practice and hone their skills. |