Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
COPY OF CABLEGRAM SENT. October 16, 1917.
To: Opnav, Washington. Serial NO.911.
Via: N C B 18 ADR Prep. by J V B Appvd. By N C T1
Sent Initials File No.
VERY SECRET
911. The idea originated in destroyer flotilla to obtain if possible a mystery ship which could be manned by one or two selected men from each d estroyer and parent ships and in which the entire flotilla would feel ownership. As result of discussion Admiralty offers loan their best equipped mystery ship now under repairs, Devonport, as a result last engagement in which submarine was destroyed. Recent Captain of this ship most successful and note Mystery Ship Commander, accounted for three submarines. For which distinguished service medal, promotion to Captain and finally the Victoria Cross awarded.2 Ship at present property of Admiralty known as VITTORIA formerly PARGUST carrying special armament and equipment for Mystery Ship. Admiralty proposes to loan ship and armament we paying the cost of operation. If ship becomes total loss, Admiralty will not expect reimbursement. No legal difficulties seen if Government give authority to fly our colors. Similar exchange of vessels now existing between Britain, French, and Japanese. Urgently request Department’s early approval as vessel ready very soon. Effect flotilla morale will be pronounced. Advise special secrecy.3 11016.
Sims.
Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG 45, Entry 517B. Identification number in top right-hand corner in columnar fashion: “1/3/C/J.”
Footnote 1: Sims’ aide Cmdr. John V. Babcock; Sims’ chief of staff Capt. Nathan C. Twining.
Footnote 2: Capt. Gordon Campbell, R.N., commander of the H.M.S. Dunraven. For more on Campbell’s heroics, see: Joseph K. Taussig’s Diary Entry of 8 August 1917.
Footnote 3: The reply from the Office of Naval Operations has not been found but on 23 November the British gave Vittoria to the Americans, who promptly renamed it Santee. Still, Crisis at Sea, 475; DANFS.
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- List of Documents
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/16/1917
- Captain John R. Y. Blakely to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/1917
- Captain Nathan C. Twining, Chief of Staff to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/1/1917
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More Documents (134)
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Force Commander, Patrol Squadrons, French Waters, 10/1/1917
- Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander, Atlantic Fleet, to Caroline Wing Mayo, 10/1/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Anne Hitchcock Sims, 10/4/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/2/1917
- Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Force Commander, Patrol Squadrons, French Waters, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/2/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/2/1917
- Captain Nathan C. Twining to Vice Admiral William S. Sims and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/3/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, Second Cable of this day, 10/3/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/3/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to French Minister of Marine Charles Chaumet, 10/3/1917
- Captain Nathan C. Twining, Chief of Staff to Commander, United States Naval Forces in European Waters, to Lieutenant Commander Earl O. Coffey, 10/4/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/4/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Lieutenant Commander Charles R. Train, United States Naval Attaché in Rome, 10/4/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Vice Admiral William S. Sims, and Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, 10/4/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, Commander, U.S.S. Wadsworth, 10/5/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson. Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/5/1917
- British Admiralty to Vice Admiral Sir Dudley R. S. de Chair, 10/5/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/6/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/6/1917
- Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché in Washington, D.C., to British Admiralty, 10/6/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/6/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/7/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Leigh C. Palmer, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, 10/8/1917
- List of Confidential Books supplied by the British Admiralty to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, and Lieutenant Commander John R. Roys, Liaison Officer, 10/8/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/8/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/8/1917
- Rear Admiral William F. Fullam, Commander, Division Two, United States Pacific Fleet, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/8/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/9/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/9/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/9/1917
- First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/9/1917
- Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, to Commander Frank P. Baldwin, United States Naval Port Officer, St. Nazaire, France, 10/9/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/10/1917
- Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, to Rear Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/10/1917
- First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, R.N., to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/10/1917
- Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander, Cruiser and Transport Force, Order for Ships in Convoy, 10/10/1917
- Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander, Atlantic Fleet, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/11/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Commander, Patrol Squadrons Based in France, 10/11/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/11/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/12/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Naval District Commandants, 10/12/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/12/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, Queenstown, 10/12/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, 10/12/1917
- Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Staff Representative in Paris, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/12/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, Gibraltar Patrol Squadron, 10/13/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/13/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, 10/13/1917
- Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Commander, Patrol Squadrons in France, Order to Commanding Officers, 10/13/1917
- Captain Frank H. Schofield, Staff, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Memorandum, 10/13/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/14/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters to Anne Hitchcock Sims, 10/14/1917
- Report on Torpedoing of U.S.S. Cassin, 10/15/1917
- War Diary of U-61, 10/15/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, Commander, Patrol Squadrons Based in France, 10/15/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/15/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 10/15/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, 10/16/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative in Paris, 10/16/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/16/1917
- Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/16/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/16/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/16/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander, Atlantic Fleet., 10/17/1917
- First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, R.N., to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/17/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/17/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Naval Constructor Laurence S. Adams, 10/17/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/17/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/17/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, 10/17/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Lewis Bayly, R.N., Commander, Naval Forces, Southern Ireland, 10/17/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/18/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/18/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Anne Hitchcock Sims, 10/19/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, 10/19/1917
- Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer Present, Destroyer Flotilla, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/19/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/19/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/19/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/19/1917
- War Diary of U.S.S. Conyngham, 10/19/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Commander Charles R. Train, United States Naval Attaché in Rome, 10/20/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/20/1917
- First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, R.N., to Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché in Washington, D.C., 10/20/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/20/1917
- Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/20/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Operating Forces in European Waters, 10/20/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/20/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/21/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/21/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Anne Hitchcock Sims, 10/21/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, 10/21/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/22/1917
- First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R Jellicoe, R.N., to Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché in Washington, D.C., 10/22/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/22/1917
- Winston Churchill to President Woodrow Wilson, 10/22/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Thomas P. Magruder, Commander (pro tempore), Patrol Squadrons, French Waters, 10/23/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/23/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, Queenstown, 10/23/1917
- Third Assistant Secretary of State Breckenridge Long to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/23/1917
- Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, 10/23/1917
- Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Naval Forces, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/23/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/24/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/24/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/24/1917
- Executive Order of President Woodrow Wilson, 10/24/1917
- Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/25/1917
- Vice Admiral Lewis Bayly, R.N., Commander, Naval Forces, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/25/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, Patrol Force in France, 10/26/1917
- Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/26/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/26/1917
- Lieutenant Commander Charles R. Train, United States Naval Attaché in Rome, to Captain William D. MacDougall, United States Naval Attaché in London, 10/27/1917
- Lieutenant Commander Charles R. Train, United States Naval Attaché in Rome, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/28/1917
- Captain Henry W. Grant, Deputy Director, Operations Division, British Admiralty, to British Admiralty, 10/27/1917
- Captain William V. Pratt, Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/28/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/28/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/28/1917
- Captain George H. Rock, Acting Industrial Manager, Bureau of Construction and Repair, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/29/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/29/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/29/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Lewis Bayly, R.N., Commander, Naval Forces, Southern Ireland, 10/29/1917
- Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/29/1917
- Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt to President Woodrow Wilson, 10/29/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/30/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/30/1917
- Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Senior Officer, Destroyer Flotilla, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/30/1917
- Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/30/1917
- Officer of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters., 10/30/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 10/31/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Forces Operating in European Waters to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/31/1917
- Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Forces Operating in European Waters to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 10/31/1917
- Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations to Naval Districts Section, 10/31/1917
- Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 10/31/1917
- Circular Letter of Rear Admiral William C. Braisted, Surgeon General and Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 10/31/1917
- Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 10/31/1917
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