On the centennial of the event, two naval scholars look back on a seemingly benign speech—delivered at the London Guildhall by a mid-grade U.S. Navy officer—that nearly ended a budding career.
A century ago this month, Navy Commander William Sowden Sims, commanding officer of the battleship USS Minnesota , imperiled his promising career with a speech forecasting Anglo-American unity in any future large-scale war. His indiscretion took place in the cavernous, cathedral-like great hall of the medieval-style Guildhall, the ceremonial center of the City of London, and his remarks reverberated from Berlin to Washington, D.C.
