Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, Inter-Office Order, 3/7/1918
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, Inter-Office Order
NAVY DEPARTMENT (OPERATIONS)
INTER-OFFICE ORDER No. 4.
7 March 1918.
1. The definite adoption of a method of administrative procedure which will most effectively care for the great expansion which has taken place in the activities and problems of the Office of Naval Operations has become necessary. It is essential that the Chief of Naval Operations devote his time to broad questions of naval policy, preparation and operation, entrusting the carrying on of the details of adopted policies and plans to the heads of the divisions of the Office of Naval Operations.
2. The divisions of the Office of Naval Operations are as follows:
1. Operations Division.
2. Materiel Division.
3. Intelligence Division.
4. Communication Division.
5. Gunnery Exercises and
Engineering Performances Division.
6. Naval Districts Division.
7. Aviation Division.
3. The heads of these divisions of the Office are hereby authorized to administer the details of their respective divisions by direction of the Chief of Naval Operations.
4. This delegated authority covers only the administration of approved policies and plans. The heads of division shall lay before the Chief of Naval Operations in concise form, for his consideration and approval, all questions involving change of policy or plans.
5. For administrative purposes the officer in charge of the Operations Division shall hold the same relation to the other heads of divisions as the executive officer of a ship holds to the other heads of departments on board ship.
6. In all matters in line with policies already approved involving more than one division, it is the duty of the heads of divisions to confer with the head of the Operations Division, with a view to coordinating and expediting action. Where a change in policy is involved joint conference with the Chief of Naval Operations shall be arranged.
7. Heads of divisions must consult freely with the Chief of Naval Operations, but no question shall be made the subject of a conference until thoroughly studied and a constructive suggestion prepared.
8. The above divisions of the Office of Naval Operations exist to attain effective administration. The unavoidable physical separation of certain of the divisions must not be allowed to obscure the fact that the final responsibility rests upon the Chief of Naval Operations, who desires and must have at all times a comprehensive knowledge of the activities of the several divisions.
9. Heads of divisions will submit, at regular intervals, or from time to time, as may be found most effective, such condensed statements as will most readily enable the Chief of Naval Operations to keep intimately in touch with their activities, plans and progress. Such information shall be merely supplemental to frequent conferences with division heads.
10. In order to conserve time conferences should be arranged in advance through Lieutenant-Commander Carter, or Lieutenant R. S. Russell.1
W. S. BENSON.
Source Note: D, DNA, RG 45, Entry 517B.
Footnote 1: Lt. Cmdr. Andrew F. Carter, Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, and Lt. Richard S. Russell.
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 3/1/1918
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/1/1918
Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/1/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 3/1/1918
Captain William P. Scott, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and Representative, Ship Protective General Committee, to Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 3/2/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Flag Officers in European Waters, 3/2/1918
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Press Conference, 3/2/1918
Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 3/2/1918
Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, Commander, Battleship Division Nine, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 3/2/1918
Commander Halsey Powell, Commander, Parker, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/3/1918
Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/4/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Herbert O. Dunn, Commander, Azores Detachment, Atlantic Fleet, 3/4/1918
Memorandum on the Regulation of Alcohol near Naval Training Stations, 3/4/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Sqaudrons Operating in European Waters, 3/5/1918
Report of Conference between Vice Admiral Maurice F. A. de Grasset, Commander, Division des Antilles; Rear Admiral Edwin A. Anderson, Commander, Sqaudron One, Patrol Force, Altantic Fleet, and Commodore Cortland H. Simpson, West Indies Auxiliary Patrols, 3/5/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Carl V. van Anda, Managing Editor, New York Times, 3/5/1918
Addenda and Corrections to Plan for Defense against a Submarine Attack in Home Waters, Submitted by Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 3/6/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, 3/6/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral David W. Taylor, Chief of Bureau of Construction and Repair, 3/6/1918
Rear Admiral Albert P. Niblack, Commander, United States Patrol Squadron Based at Gibraltar, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/7/1918
James F. Kerney, Paris Representative, Committee on Public Information, to Committee on Public Information, 3/7/1918
Commander Paul Foley and L. I. Thomas to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, United States Shipping Board, 3/8/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice Chairman, United States Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 3/8/1918
Lieutenant Commnader Kenneth Whiting, Aviation Section, Officer of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Captain Hutchison I. Cone, Commander, Naval Aviaition Force, Foreign Service, 3/8/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in Eiuropean Waters, and Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, 3/8/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, 3/9/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Major General John J. Pershing, Commander, American Expeditionary Forces, 3/9/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Thomas E. Crease, Secretary of the Allied Naval Council, 3/9/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Destroyer Flotillas, 3/9/1918
Memorandum of Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/10/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, 3/10/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 3/10/1918
Secretary of the British Admiralty Sir Oswyn A. R. Murray to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/10/1918
Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/10/1918
Lieutenant (j. g.) Frederick A. Johnson, U. S. N. R. F., to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 3/11/1918
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to General Chauncey B. Baker, U.S.A., Chief of Embarkation Service, and Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, 3/11/1918
Commander Charles R. Belknap Jr., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/11/1918
Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/11/1918
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Albert Shaw, Editor-in-Chief, American Review of Reviews, 3/12/1918
Surgeon General of the Navy Doctor William C. Braisted, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/12/1918
Bureau of Yards and Docks to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/12/1918
Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/12/1918
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, Circular to Naval District Commandants, 3/13/1918
George I. Gay, Commissioner, Planning Division, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, United States Shipping Board and United States Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, 3/14/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, United States Shipping Board and United States Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, United States Shipping Board, Vance C. McCormick, Chairman, Board of Trade, and Assistant Secretary of War Benedict Crowell, 3/14/1918
Commander John Halligan Jr., Chief of Staff, Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet, to Commanding Officers, United States Patrol Sqaudrons Operating in European Waters, 3/14/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, 3/14/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Admiralty Sir Oswyn A. R. Murray, 3/15/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Third Sea Lord Rear Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey, 3/15/1918
Ship's Log, Allen, 3/15/1918
Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Naval Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/16/1918
Naval Stores Department, British Admiralty, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/16/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the British Admiralty Sir Oswyn A. R. Murray, 3/16/1918
Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, Commander, Battleship Division Nine, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 3/16/1918
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/16/1918
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Flag Officers, 3/16/1918
Army and Navy Register, 3/16/1918
Philip A. S. Franklin, Chairman, Shipping Control Committee in New York, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, United States Shipping Board, and United States Representative to the Allied Maritime Transport Council, 3/17/1918
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt to Commandants, Third Through Eighth Naval Districts, and Commander William R. White, Commander, Vixen, 3/17/1918
Captain Nathan C. Twining, Chief of Staff to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Admiralty Sir Oswyn A. R. Murray, 3/18/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, 3/18/1918
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Lieutenant Commander Walter M. Falconer, Commander, Wadena, 3/18/1918
Rear Admiral Albert P. Niblack, Commander, United States Patrol Squadron Based at Gibraltar, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/18/1918
Secretary of State Robert Lansing to United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Hines Page, 3/18/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, 3/19/1918
Lieutenant Commander Charles R. Train, United States Naval Attaché at Rome, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/19/1918
Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, to the Office of Naval Intelligence, 3/19/1918
George I. Gay, Commissioner, Planning Division, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, 3/19/1918
Rear Admiral Newton A. McCully, District Commander, Rochefort, France, and Commander, Sqaudron Five, Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, 3/19/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, 3/20/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, Philip A. S. Franklin, Chairman, Shipping Control Committee, and Assistant Secretary of War Benedict Crowell, 3/20/1918
Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/21/1918
Special Board on Anti-Submarine Devices to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/21/1918
United States Consul-General, Genoa, David F. Wilber, to Rear Admiral Albert P. Niblack, Commander, United States Patrol Squadron Based at Gibraltar, 3/22/1918
Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transportation Council, 3/22/1918
Captain Hutchinson I. Cone, Commander, Naval Aviation Forces, Foreign Service, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 3/23/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to All Naval Forces in European Waters, 3/23/1918
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to All Bureaus, All Naval District Commandants, and All Naval Yard Commandants, 3/23/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, 3/23/1918
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, 3/23/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Whiting, Commander, Naval Air Stations 14 and 15, Killigholme, 3/24/1918
Major General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief, American Expeditionary Forces, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/24/1918
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters, 3/25/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, Philip A. S. Franklin, Chairman of the Shipping Control Committee in New York, and Assistant Secretary of War Benedict Crowell, 3/26/1918
Rear Admiral Leigh C. Palmer, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/26/1918
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 3/26/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Commander, United States Patrol Sqaudrons Operating in European Waters, 3/27/1918
General George W. Goethals, Acting Quartermaster General, United States Army, and Director of Storage and Traffic, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 3/27/1918
Captain (Retired) Oscar W. Koester, Bureau of Steam Engineering, to Rear Admiral Walter McLean, Commandant, Fifth Naval District, 3/27/1918
Lieutenant Commander Worrall R. Carter, Commander, Aylwin, Suggestions for Use of American A-L Submarines, 3/27/1918
Executive Order of President Woodrow Wilson, 3/28/1918
Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 3/28/1918
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to Naval District Commandants, 3/28/1918
General Order, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 3/28/1918
Admiralty Memorandum on Concentration of Destroyers in the North Sea, 3/28/1918
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Destroyer Flotillas Operating in European Waters, 3/29/1918
Philip A. S. Franklin, Chairman, Shipping Control Committee, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 3/29/1918
Commander Paul Foley and L. I. Thomas to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, 3/29/1918
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, All Navy Communication Cable, 3/29/1918
Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, to Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, and George I. Gay, Commissioner, Planning Division, Shipping Board, 3/29/1918
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, 3/30/1918
Edward N. Hurley, Chairman, Shipping Board, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, 3/30/1918
William Denman, Chairman, Shipping Control Committee, to Raymond B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman, Shipping Board, and Representative, Allied Maritime Transport Council, 3/30/1918
Commander Dudley W. Knox, Planning Section, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Commander Thomas C. Hart, Commander, Division Five, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet, 3/31/1918
William S Benson, Andrew F Carter
Naval Administration, Naval Leadership
Additional Resources for March 1918