CHRISTMAS EVE 1917: THE TIME I SAW SIMS LCDR Charles Minor Blackford III, USCGR ret.
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One of the first things I learned when I enlisted in the Navy and became a destroyerman was that they had a god, and his name was Admiral William S. Sims. He was not a great , all-powerful god, just a little one, who had taken destroyers and destroyermen under his wing. It was a time most Admirals had a low opinion of them ... one had said the only thing they were good for was taking his laundry ashore. Sims was the man who changed the destroyers into the Dungaree Navy during the coalburning days when whites became sooty in a few hours. He made other changes in destroyermen's lifestyle which I have forgotten, and a few months before this particular Christmas, had staged what destroyermen called "The Great Roundup" which changed the convoy system for the rest of the war and wars to come. It so happened that a replacement brought the mumps to my ship, the USS McDougal and I contracted it. After three weeks in a hospital in Ireland I reported aboard the Melville to await the return of my ship. It was the day before Christmas. At five I lined up with the liberty party. A cold drizzle was falling, the sky darkening into night as the liberty boat headed for the landing quay, down a line of silent, camouflaged destroyers . It was very different from the sunny afternoon in May when I first saw the River Lee. We had been the first Americans to arrive, the "Return of the Mayflower" they called it. The windows of the houses had been filled with waving people and the waterfront streets packed with onlookers. The time of our arrival was one of the worst kept secrets of the war; even the Germans knew it and had placed mines in the channel to greet us. This Christmas Eve I collected my supper ashore. I say "collect" because what we could get in the restaurants and tearooms was limited, but I had evolved a way to get a good meal. The butchers and grocers were unrationed , so I bought a small steak at one and a can of peas and peaches at the other. Up the hill was a small tearoom run by three elderly ladies. I took my purchases there to be cooked and returned a half-hour later to eat them. With a good meal in me I headed for the Navy Club. Others drifted in that direction, Americans mostly and some British soldiers and sailors. A soft mist surrounded us giving everything a touch of unreality, the houses rising up the hillside to our left, and the waters of the River Lee lapping the seawall on our right. Suddenly the running lights of a destroyer appeared as she passed through the nets into safety, then astern of her another. SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1984-85
Admiral William S. Sims (left) ca. 1917, and at right, seaman Blackford shortly after his 18th birthday, seated behind a shipmate. To the young men in the escort fleet, Admiral Sims was "the destroyermen's idol." Below, the author at this home in Crystal River.
In minutes I recognized the Wadsworth, leader of our division, and one of the lights appearing astern of her would be the Madhouse Mac, my home away from home. The hall of the Navy Club was well filled when I entered. I found a seat and as I was still weak from my illness , relaxed half asleep, paying no heed to the festive noise about me. There was a stirring in the hall , a sudden silence. I opened my eyes and looked in the direction the others were looking. Down the sloping passage of the officer's gallery came a group of brass .. . big brass ... Admirals no less. Leading them was a British Admiral whom I deduced to be the Area Commander, an American Admiral and behind him was a third Admiral. Then , from behind me, came an excited cry. "There's Sims!" For a moment there was absolute silence, then all hell broke loose, cheering, whistling, handclapping and stamping feet. It did not stop until the Big Brass lined up by the balcony rail and seemed about to speak. The British Admiral said something, the American Admiral said something and of none of it have I any remembrance. We all waited .... We waited for Sims to step forward, but he made no move. Like the others he was about to seat himself. " Let Sims say something!" bellowed a voice near me. Again uproar rocked the building. We all watched him move to the rail. I could not make out how he looked , except that he was slimmer and shorter than I had expected.
Immediately there was dead silence. All this was a long time ago and my memory grows weak , but as I remember this is what he said: " Well, boys," he began , "You don't have to tell me how tough and monotonous convoy duty is, and I don't have to tell you how important it is-you know that as well as I do. But I'll promise you this: if any real action comes up, I'll do my damnedest to see you get into it!" That was all, but that was enough. It was what we had wanted to hear and know. Of the entertainment I have little memory. But I had a message to carry to my shipmates on the morrow... a message they would be delighted to hear. .t.
Cdr. Blackford joined the Navy in 1916, served in the destroyers Paulding and McDougal, and then went into the merchant service. In 1941 he was commissioned in the Coast Guard and served on the cutters Hamilton and Pandora, and as CO of LST-19 at the invasions of Tarawa, Saipan and others. He is the author of Torpedoboat Sailor and is now retired at Crystal River, Florida.
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