Jules James Jules James , ( 1885 – March 12 , 1957 ) , was a career U . S . Naval officer . During World War II he commanded U . S . Naval forces in Bermuda and then later oversaw the construction of a large number of U . S . Navy ships while commanding the Sixth Naval District . Career . Jules James graduated from the U . S . Naval Academy in 1910 and was commissioned an ensign in the U . S . Navy . One of his early assignments was as a White House naval aide to President Woodrow Wilson from 1912 to 1913 . The following year James had his first taste of combat , serving on the USS Florida during the Battle of Veracruz . Lieutenant Commander James served as Executive Officer aboard the USS Rochester ( CA - 2 ) during World War I as the ship escorted convoys to and from Europe . For his actions Jules was given a special letter of commendation . Later , during the 70th U . S . Congress , special dispensation allowed James to accept the French Legion of Honour for his World War I service . In 1921 LCDR James and was present at one of the key changing moments in naval history . United States Army General Billy Mitchell , an outspoken advocate for air power , led a series of tests off the Virginia coast in which the ex - German battleship " SMS Ostfriesland " and other ships were sunk by bomber aircraft . James served as Chief Censor , given responsibiliy for censoring what information about the tests were released to the news media . After a tour aboad the " USS Columbia " in 1922 , James served as Assistant Naval Attache to the American embassies in France , Spain , and Portugal from 1923 to 1926 . At times between 1926 and 1934 James was navigator on the ; commanded the , with which he participated in the Yangtze River patrol ; served as naval aide for the Governor - General of the Philippines ; attended the Naval War College ; and commanded the Destroyer Division 6 , Battle Force , U . S . Fleet . In 1933 James was head of the Department of Ordnance and Gunnery at the U . S . Naval Academy . In 1937 he directed the fitting out of the light cruiser , which he then commanded until mid - 1939 . From 1939 to 1941 , he served as assistant director , and briefly acting director , of the Office of Naval Intelligence . In 1941 he became commander of the newly acquired U . S . Naval Operating Base on Bermuda , where he also commanded the combined U . S . and British local defense forces . From May , 1943 to September , 1945 Admiral James commanded the Sixth Naval District , headquartered at Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston , South Carolina . In 1945 Admiral James received his final assignment , commander of U . S . Naval Forces in Mediterranean waters He retired from active duty in 1946 . In addition to being a serving officer , Admiral James was an inventor and songwriter . During his time in Bermuda James wrote and published the tune " Traveling High " . Earlier in his career he was responsible for the invention of a new type of gunsight for Navy machine guns and a naval mine . Personal . Jules James was born in Danville , Virginia , where he studied at Virginia Military Institute preparatory to entering the U . S . Naval Academy . In 1928 he married Eleanor Standish Gamble , niece of U . S . Secretary of War Henry Stimson . Gamble was also the great - great granddaughter of American founding father Roger Sherman . Following his retirement from the Navy in 1946 , James became a special representative in Europe for the National Lead Company .