Advertisement

ADMIRAL SIMS TO SPEAK TOMORROW

Commanded American Naval Forces in European Waters--Aided England in Combating Submarines

Tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock in the Living Room of the Union, Admiral William Sowden Sims, LL.D. '19, will speak on "Naval Operations During the War and the Nature of Future Naval Warfare." He will be introduced by Professor J. L. Coolidge '95, who will act as chairman. At 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon Admiral Sims will lunch at the Liberal Club, and before the address will be tendered a dinner by the Governing Board of the Union.

During the past war, Admiral Sims was commander-in-chief of the American naval forces in European waters. When America declared war against Germany in April, 1917, he had already sailed for England, and upon his arrival in London within the first week of this country's entrance into the conflict he entered into consultation with the foremost figures in the English and French navles. That month was a critical one for the Allies. The Germans were sinking 900,000 tons of shipping a month, and at that rate England would be starved into surrender within the next four or five months. Largely through the work of Admiral Sims, the convoy system, which had been used to protect battleships from the U-Boats, was applied successfully to merchant ships where up to this time it had been generally believed in naval circles that it would be a failure.

Another great feat in the naval history of the war was the mine field between Scotland and Norway, which was planned and executed under the direction of Admiral Sims. This barrage, stretching from the Orkney Islands to the coast of Norway, a distance of about 230 nautical miles, was handled entirely by Americans and laid by a squadron of United States merchant ships which had been converted into mine-layers, over 70,000 mines having been put out into the North Sea. This barrage was undoubtedly a contributory cause of the mutiny which demoralized the German fleet in the fall of 1918.

The Governing Board of the Union has announced that those who want guest cards for this lecture must obtain them before 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

Advertisement
Advertisement