Biographie
Sims's Canadian family emigrated to the United States in 1872.
In 1929 Sims received an LL.D. from Bates College. Columbia University conferred the honorary degree of doctor of laws upon Rear Admiral Sims on 2 June 1920.[3] Several weeks later, Williams College conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of laws during its June 21, 1920, commencement exercises. Several U.S. Navy vessels have been named for Sims. Three ships have been named USS Sims, while a transport vessel was named USS Admiral W. S. Sims (AP-127). The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp panel on February 4, 2010, honoring 4 distinguished sailors. One of the stamps depicted Admiral Sims.
Service militaire
He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and later wrote a navigation textbook that became widely used. As naval attache to U.S. embassies in Paris and St. Petersburg, he observed the superiority of foreign navies. As inspector of naval target practice (1902-1909), he revolutionized U.S. naval gunnery.
He commanded two battleships, USS Minnesota (1909-11) and USS Nevada (1915-1916), but his most important command was the Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla (1913-1915). In World War I he commanded the U.S. fleet in Europe and helped develop the convoy system to protect Allied ships from German submarine attack.
He was president of the Naval War College (1917-1918, 1919-1922).
In 1920, he published "The Victory at Sea", an account of his wartime service, which won the Pulitzer Prize.
