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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander, Atlantic Fleet.

 

Cablegram Sent                Oct 17, 1917

To Opnav Washington (For Mayo)                 Serial No. 914

Via N C B 18 D                  Prep. by    Appvd. by C of S1

Sent                     Initials               File No.

Copies to: C. or S.; J. V. B.2

914. Pollen has article to be published in Land and Water which indicates lack of co-ordination between Admiralty and our service.3 Suggest that comprehensive statement by you relative attitude of Admiralty as indicated by your visit will be greatly appreciated by First Lord and will nullify any possible unfortunate inferences by publications on article in question. Signed Jackson.4 10517

Sims.

Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG45, Entry 517B. The date reference number immediately before the signature is a stamp. In the upper left-hand corner is the printed notation: “Action Copy.”

Footnote 1: Capt. Nathan C. Twining served as Sims’ Chief of Staff.

Footnote 2: Cmdr. John V. Babcock acted as Sims’ aide and de facto Intelligence Officer.

Footnote 3: Arthur Joseph Hungerford Pollen was a British naval contractor turned journalist for the influential magazine Land and Water, who was known for his critical appraisal of the British effort to combat German submarines and his intricate knowledge of the British Admiralty. Barry D. Hunt, Sailor-Scholar: Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond, 1871-1946 (Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1982), 60.

Footnote 4: Capt. Orton P. Jackson, chief of staff to Mayo, who had accompanied Mayo to Europe on a mission and was still there while recovering from an accident.

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