15Aboard the United States Monitor Monterey
Yangtze River, China
November 1901
Despite the late evening hour, Lieutenant William Sims continued to write by the dim light in his cabin. His ship, the monitor Monterey, had left Shanghai earlier that day to begin a slow patrol up the river. He never tired of his writing ritual, and when his watches ended, he would frequently be found putting his thoughts to paper. His thoughts always involved the navy. For Sims, the navy was his life. A bachelor in his early forties, he had no outside interests and considered himself married to the service. Tall, handsome, and articulate, his brilliance was somewhat contradicted by his middle-of-the-class graduation standing in the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1880.
Considering his junior officer
