Final answer:
Admiral William S. Sims is known for persuading the British to adopt the convoy system during WWI, which involved merchant vessels traveling in protected groups, significantly reducing losses to German U-boat attacks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Admiral William S. Sims convinced the British to use the convoy system to hinder German U-boat attacks during World War I. The convoy system entailed groups of merchant vessels traveling together with a protective guard of destroyers and cruisers. This strategy proved to be effective and led to a significant decrease in shipping losses, with reports of losses being cut in half by midsummer of 1917. After U.S. entry into the war, Sims and other naval officers also took part in laying mines in the North Sea to further prevent U-boat access to the Atlantic. The use of the convoy system was a critical response to German submarine warfare, which included unrestricted attacks on all Atlantic traffic that escalated tensions and contributed to the United States declaring war.