Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
William Sowden Sims writes to President Roosevelt to say he has recently become engaged to Anne Hitchcock.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1905-09-01
Your TR Source
Sims, William Sowden, 1858-1936
Profile of Captain Percy Scott
Lieutenant-Commander Sims provides President Roosevelt with a short biography of Captain Percy Scott. Sims is sending Roosevelt a copy of Scott’s lecture on naval gunnery and marksmanship. Scott’s methods of marksmanship training have been adapted successfully by the United States Navy, according to Sims.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-11-18
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
William Sowden Sims wrote a paper about future naval tactics for an entire fleet of ships and shares his conclusions with Theodore Roosevelt, as well as enclosing the paper. Sims believes many modifications will be needed for future naval actions, listing them for Roosevelt, whom he thinks they will interest.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-10-05
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
William Sowden Sims sends President Roosevelt his report on the advantages of big gun battleships of large displacement.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-01-10
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Lieutenant-Commander Sims asks President Roosevelt to review Captain Percy Scott’s lecture on naval gunnery and marksmanship.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1904-11-18
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
William Sowden Sims thanks President Roosevelt for enclosing the letter from A. T. Mahan, which he describes as an “admirable presentation of the merits and defects” of the navy administration. Based on Mahan’s letter and the other men involved in the commission, Sims feels certain that the report will be sound from military, law, business, and political perspectives. He is hopeful that the commission’s findings will result in “many great improvements in military efficiency.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1909-01-14
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Naval Commander Sims writes to President Roosevelt to voice his opinion regarding the appointment of an Engineer-in-Chief for the Navy. Sims believes that the candidate backed by Senator Eugene Hale and Chief Constructor W. L. Capps should not be appointed, and encloses a memorandum to this effect. Instead, Sims endorses the appointment of a line officer, and is backed by Commanders Robert S. Griffin and Benjamin C. Bryan. If a line officer is not available, Sims endorses either Griffin or Bryan as good candidates.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-12-07
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
William Sowden Sims sends President Roosevelt a copy of a letter from Albert L. Key criticizing the plans of the North Dakota class of battleship. Sims has read the letter and agrees with many of the criticisms, and summarizes the various points that Key makes in his criticism. The Board of Construction seems to stand in opposition to the General Board and majority of officers in the Navy, who Sims says support many of the criticisms. Sims criticizes the actions of Admiral George Albert Converse, who supports the Board of Construction in the face of much of the Navy, and suggests that Converse is impeding progress in his current position. He also criticizes Chief Constructor W. L. Capps’s inability to admit that he may be mistaken with regard to the current design.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-06-23
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Commander Sims submits a memorandum on the subject of the selection of an Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy. He hopes that President Roosevelt will find it worthy of consideration.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-06-01
Creator(s)
Memorandum from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Commander William Sowden Sims sends President Roosevelt a memorandum on torpedoes and the use of torpedo defense nets. Sims refers to his previous report regarding torpedo defense, and that a gunnery officer’s board had considered the report and recommended a trial of torpedo nets from England on one ship, as the British production and use of torpedo nets was more effective and efficient than other options. Sims notes to Roosevelt that the German navy has a much greater proportion of torpedo boats and destroyers per battleship than the American navy, so torpedo defense nets are less of a concern to them.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-03-04
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to William Loeb
Commander William Sowden Sims of the U.S. Navy sends William Loeb an extract from a new Italian history of Rome. Sims draws a comparison between the political methods of Cataline mentioned in the extract and those used by William Jennings Bryan, and says that this may interest President Roosevelt.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-02-20
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Commander Sims of the United States Navy notifies President Roosevelt that he is sending him a memorandum comparing the accuracy of firing tests between 1907 and 1908. There have been improvements across the board, even though conditions are more severe.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-02-17
Creator(s)
Memorandum concerning the Brazilian dreadnoughts now building in England
Commander Sims supplements a memorandum he had submitted several months ago with a recent letter from Lieutenant-Commander Simon P. Fullinwider. Fullinwider writes that he has not found much definite information about the Brazilian Dreadnoughts. While there are plans for dock construction and for the expansion of the Brazilian Navy with these ships, Fullinwider suggests that these plans coming to pass is somewhat dubious.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-02-15
Creator(s)
Comments upon the report by Admiral Converse
Commander Sims submits a report to President Roosevelt in response to Admiral George Albert Converse’s criticism of the conditions of naval vessels. Sowden asserts that Converse’s criticism is misinformed and leaves out facts in several important details. Namely, in regard to the difference between turrets in United States ships and foreign ships, the differences are due to the fact that the design of U. S. turrets could put munitions and those working in handling rooms at risks. Converse’s comments about the draft of ships also contained erroneous figures that made the report misleading.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-02-14
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Commander Sims, in response to President Roosevelt’s request while aboard the Mayflower, encloses a memorandum on the Brazilian dreadnoughts being built in England summarizing and commenting on Lieutenant Commander Simon P. Fullinwider’s letter.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-12-19
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to William Loeb
Commander Sims sends William Loeb reports of recent battle target practice that he thinks President Roosevelt will find of interest.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10-08
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Commander Sims writes to President Roosevelt with the results of the long-range firing tests completed by the Atlantic Fleet. After his updates over the years on their great progress in gunnery training, Sims now reports that the battle firing system has proven to be satisfactory. He describes the tests conducted, the control system, and the outcomes for each ship. The fire-control officers, although rattled by stress at first, performed very well by the end.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-10-08
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
As it is a matter of great consequence, Admiral Sims recommends President Roosevelt address the issues of the army’s gunnery methods “in a formal and official manner” and gives suggestions of how to do so.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-08-17
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Knowing President Roosevelt is actively interested in promoting military efficiency, Admiral Sims sends him an analysis of the army’s gunnery methods resulting from an action of the Joint Army and Navy Munitions Board. He concludes, “the army method is expensive, complicated, frequently comparatively inaccurate.” These issues result from a failure to update army training. To resolve this, Sims suggests adapting naval methods for land use.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-08-12
Creator(s)
Letter from William Sowden Sims to Theodore Roosevelt
Lieutenant-Commander Sims writes to Theodore Roosevelt about how effective the U. S. S. Charleston was at its firing practice. This is a modern ship that is able to aim its guns and hit more targets than ships before it.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-05-23