The Victory at Sea

by Burton J. Hendrick, William Sowden Sims

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

370 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Associate editor of World's Work 1913-27. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner: in American History for the co-written A Victory at Sea (1920) and in American Biography for the first volume of The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page (1922) and The Training of an American (1928).

Reviews

[Andrew]

Admiral Sims is a piece of shit. Advocating war long before the formal declaration of hostilities. WWI was the dumbest war that the U.S. ever involved itself in. Sims' obsessions with college boys and a sporting good time made me a little sick. All that being said, this is a worthwhile history of submarine warfare. I liked the structure a lot. Each chapter is dedicated to a different tool used achieve victory over the submarines. From the convoy system to planes dropping bombs on sub decks, there are a lot of good details. Lots of points are helpfully reiterated and the mechanics are interesting throughout.

[Maria]

Rear Admiral William Sowden Sims wrote an account of the U.S. Navy's role in WWI and won the 1921 Pulitzer prize in history for this book. Explaining the significance of submarine warfare, the limitations, victories and strategies to the public after a couple years of secrecy.

Why I started this book: This has been on my Professional Reading list for years, so I was thrilled to find an audio version of this common domain book.

Why I finished it: Struggled to finish, between the old fashion phrasing and style and the microphone capturing the narrator's inhales. But it was interesting to see an high level AAR of the submarine war in World War I. Especially since this review was used to justify expanding the submarine fleet in time for WWII.

[William Rowe]

Great deal of information on the USN’s participation in the Great War

The information on convoys belong adapted, the procedures
; WW1 ASW, Naval Aviation, 14” railway guns, and American troop transportation were new to me. Some of the personal complements and organizational discussions can be skimmed. The authors) assume little knowledge on the part of the reader. I found it informative and readable for a book centaurs old.

[Dimiter]

Submarine & antisubmarine warfare during WW. A book of it's time, with a bit peculiar wording by 21st century standards, though quite enjoyable. A book full of facts, opinions and descriptions of man, machine and method - it will give you a clear view of what was happening when this novel weapon struck. How it could have turned the tide, and almost did, but at the end was defeated. Anyone interested in history & technology would do well to read it.

[Derk]

Focuses on the views and actions of an Admiral who was controversial in the early 20th century.

DNF

[charles whitcomb]

Mostly okay

Good account of strategy development staving off Germany uboats by escort system. Too many pages on chains of command and personalities.