Crimes and Lighthouses

Crimes and Lighthouses

Rear Admiral Sims, retired, might be called the Maximilian Harden of the United States Navy. He was once President of the Naval War College at Newport, a sort of post-graduate school (distinct from the Academy at Annapolis) for training officers in the theory of naval tactics. As quoted in an interview given the Boston Transcript, he excoriated the Navy Department for giving high commands to officers who are not graduates of the War College. Said the interview:

"The appointment of an officer who is not a graduate of the War College to be commander-in-chief of the great United States Fleet is a crime against the people of this country. . . . Appointment of an officer lacking this training to be the head of the Naval Academy at Anapolis is nothing less than a scandal. . . . More than half of the officers given preference in the transfers recently announced and to take effect this summer are not graduates of the War College. The service is disgusted with the situation, disgusted that the same old game of service politics is being played.

"Secretary Denby could do the Navy a high and lasting service ... by ordering that all places of high command be filled exclusively by War College graduates. It would make his name stand out like a lighthouse."

The Secretary evidently has no desire to be a beacon of fame. His reply was brief:

"I find it hard to believe that Admiral Sims made the statements attributed to him. I cannot believe that any officer would show such utter disloyalty to the service."

Admiral Sims' denunciation calls attention to the fact that Admiral Robert E. Coontz, soon to become Admiral of the United States Fleet, is not a graduate of the College. Admiral Jones, retiring from that post, is. Of the 47 admirals in the Navy, 25 are War College graduates, and of the 15 newly appointed to sea duty, nine are graduates.