William S. Sims
Sims, William S. (Sowden) (1858–1936), a United States naval officer and naval reformer. Through his efforts the U.S. Navy revolutionized its gunnery techniques and introduced other improvements prior to World War I. During the war, Sims was commander of U.S. Navy forces in Europe. He helped persuade the British to adopt the convoy system, which largely overcame the German submarine menace to Allied shipping.
Sims was born in Port Hope, Ontario, to parents who were from the United States. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1880. As a rear admiral he served as president of the Naval War College (1917, 1919–22). He was temporarily a full admiral in 1918. Sims retired in 1922. The Victory at Sea (1920), which he wrote with Burton J. Hendrick, won the Pulitzer Prize in history.