Admiral Sims is one of the most energetic and efficient of American naval officers and to him as much as to any other man is due the efficiency of the American Navy. During the period just before the Spanish-American War Lieutenant Sims was Naval Attache at Paris, and rendered invaluable services in buying ships and supplies for the Navy. In 1900 he was assigned to duty on the battleship Kentucky, then stationed in the Orient. In 1902 he was ordered to the Navy Department and placed in charge of the Office of Naval Practice, where he remained for seven years and devoted his attention to the improvement of the Navy in gunnery. During that time he made constant trips to England to consult with English experts in gunnery and ordnance, and became intimately acquainted with Sir Percy Scott, who had been knighted and made Rear-Admiral for the improvements he had introduced in connection with the gunnery of the British warships. In 1909 he was made commander of the battleship Minnesota, and in 1911 was a member of the college staff at the Naval War College. In 1913 he was made commander of the torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic fleet and in 1905 assigned to command the Dreadnaught Nevada. In 1916 he was President of the Naval War College. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1916 and Vice-Admiral in 1917 and assigned to the command of all American war vessels abroad.
Immediately upon their arrival the American vessels began operation in the submarine zone. Admiral Beatty then addressed the following message to Admiral Henry T. Mayo of the United States Atlantic Fleet:
The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic fleet will now share in preserving the liberties of the world and in maintaining the chivalry of the sea.
Admiral Mayo replied:
The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the British fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British fleet for the freedom of the seas.
It may also be noted, as a fact which is not without significance, that the losses by submarine which had reached their highest mark in the last week in April began from that time steadily to diminish.
One of the main duties of the Navy was to convoy transports and supplies across the Atlantic. This was done with the assistance of Allied vessels with remarkable success. For a long period it seemed as if the U-boats would not be able to penetrate through the Allied convoy, but during 1918 four transports were torpedoed. The first was the Tuscania which was sunk in February off the north coast of Ireland, with 1,912 officers and men of the Michigan and Wisconsin guardsmen, of whom 204 were lost. The Oronsa, which was torpedoed in April, contained 250 men and all were saved except three of the crew. The Moldavia came next with five hundred troops, of whom fifty-five were lost. On September 6th the troopship Persic with 2,800 American soldiers was torpedoed but American destroyers rescued all on board, and the Persic, which was prevented from sinking by its water-tight bulkheads, was afterwards beached.
Several American ships, including the troop transport Mount Vernon, were torpedoed on return trips and a number of the men of their crews were lost, and several naval vessels were lost, including the destroyer Jacob Jones, and the patrol vessel Alcedo. The Cassin was torpedoed, but reached port under its own steam and later returned to service.
In September and October three more American transports were added to the list of American losses. On September 26th the United States steamer Tampa was torpedoed and sank with all on board, losing 118 men. On September 30th the Ticonderoga was also torpedoed, eleven naval officers and 102 enlisted men being lost.
In addition to these submarine losses several ships and a number of men were lost through collision. The United States steamer Westgate was sunk in a collision with the steamer American on October 7th, with the loss of seven men. On October 9th the United States destroyer Shaw lost fifteen men in a collision, though she later succeeded in reaching port. On October 11th the American steamer Otranto was sunk in a collision with the British liner Cashmere. Of seven hundred American soldiers who were on board 365 were lost. At this time about three thousand anti-submarine craft were in operation day and night around the British Isles, and about five thousand working in the open sea. This was what made it possible for the Allies to win the war.