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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 Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels

                                                        TELEGRAM.                              No. 168

From Admiralty                                                                                Date 1 July.17

To B Naval Attaché Washington1                                               1940

 

SENT: July 1, 1917 <For> Secretary of the Navy,

THROUGH: Admiralty.

     Number sixtysix. I again urgently request services Captain Pratt2 and a Commander for duty in Admiralty in connection with convoys (stop) If Captain Pratt could come at once with Departments point of view his estimate of situation would undoubtedly be of incalculable value and remove any misunderstanding of the situation which may now exist.3

          SIMS.

Source Note: Sn: Cy, UK-KeNA, Adm. 137/656. A list at the bottom of the page identifies where copies should be filed. At the end of the document, someone has written in ink, “By orders of S.L. [First Sea Lord Adm. Sir John Jellicoe]/U.S./Naval Att[ache]/1.7.17,” presumably indicating the Admiralty’s approval for the message to go to Daniels via the British Naval Attaché.

Footnote 1: Commo. Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington.

Footnote 2: Capt. William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations.

Footnote 3: Despite his repeated requests, the Navy Department never sent Pratt to Sims’ office. He was simply too valuable to the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William S. Benson. Sims complained throughout the war that his staff was undersized, but in truth the Navy Department worked to get him the personnel he needed. By the Armistice, he had 962 officers, enlisted men, and civilians working under him. Whether this included anyone specifically tasked to act as liaison with the British Admiralty is unclear. Morison, Admiral Sims: 396-398; Still, Crisis at Sea: 32-35.

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