Chester Nimitz


Chester William Nimitz (February 24, 1885 - February 20, 1966) was the
Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces
during World War II. He was the nation's leading authority on submarines, as
well as Chief of the Navy Bureau of Navigation in 1939.

Chester William Nimitz, son of Chester Bernhard and Anna (Henke) Nimitz, was
born in Fredericksburg, Texas. He was appointed to the United States Naval
Academy from the 12th Congressional District of Texas in 1901, and graduated
with distinction in January 1905. He joined battleship Ohio at San
Francisco, and cruised in her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was
transferred to Baltimore; and, on 31 January 1907, after the two years at
sea then required by law, he was commissioned Ensign. Remaining on Asiatic
Station in 1907, he successively served in Panay, Decatur, and Denver.

Nimitz returned to the United States in the fourth Ranger when that vessel
was converted to a school ship, and in January 1909 began instruction in the
First Submarine Flotilla. In May of that year he was given command of the
Flotilla, with additional duty in command of Plunger, later renamed A-1. He
commanded Snapper (later renamed C-5) when that submarine was commissioned
on 2 February 1910, and on 18 November 1910 assumed command of Narwhal
(later renamed D-1). In the latter command he had additional duty from 10
October 1911, as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. In
November 1911 he was ordered to the Boston Navy Yard, to assist in fitting
out Skipjack and assumed command of that submarine, which had been renamed
E-1, at her commissioning on 14 February 1912. On 20 March 1912 he rescued
W. J. Walsh, Fireman, second class, from drowning.

After commanding the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla, from, May 1912 to March
1913, he supervised the building of diesel engines for tanker Maumee, under
construction at the New London Ship and Engine Building Company, Groton,
Connecticut. In the summer of 1913 he studied engines at the diesel engine
plants in Nuremberg, Germany, and Ghent, Belgium. Returning to the New York
Navy Yard, he became Maumee's Executive Officer and Engineer on her
commissioning 23 October 1916. On 10 August 1917 Nimitz became aide to
Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On 6 February 1918 he was
appointed Chief of Staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation by the
Secretary of the Navy for meritorious service as Chief of Staff to the
Commander, U.S. Atlantic Submarine Fleet. On 16 September 1918, he reported
to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and on 25 October was given
additional duty as Senior Member, Board of Submarine Design.

From May 1919 to June 1920 he served as executive officer of South Carolina.
He then commanded Chicago with additional duty in command of Submarine
Division 14, based at Pearl Harbor. Returning to the United States in the
summer of 1922, he studied at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island,
and in June 1923, became Aide and Assistant Chief of Staff to Commander
Battle Fleet, and later to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet. In August
1926 he went to the University of California, Berkeley to establish one of
the Navy's first Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Units.

In June 1929 he took command of Submarine Division 20. In June 1931 he
assumed command of Rigel and the destroyers out of commission at San Diego,
California. In October 1933 he took command of Augusta and cruised in her to
the Far East, where in December she became flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. In
April 1935, he returned home for three years as Assistant Chief of the
Bureau of Navigation, before becoming Commander, Cruiser Division 2, Battle
Force. In September 1938 he took command of Battleship Division 1, Battle
Force.

On 15 June 1939 he was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. On 17
December 1941 he was selected Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, with
the rank of Admiral, effective from 31 December. Assuming command at the
most critical period of the war in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz, despite the
losses from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the tragic shortage of ships,
planes and supplies, successfully organized his forces to halt the Japanese
advance. As rapidly as ships, men, and material became available, he shifted
to the offensive and, by his brilliant leadership and outstanding skill as a
strategist, defeated the enemy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of
Midway, and in the Battle of the Solomon Islands.

On 7 October 1943 he was designated Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and
Pacific Ocean Areas. By Act of Congress, approved 14 December 1944, the
grade of Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy -- the highest grade in the
Navy -- was established and the next day President of the United States
Franklin Roosevelt nominated and, with the advice and consent of the Senate,
appointed Admiral Nimitz to that rank. He took the oath of office 19
December 1944.

In the final phases in the war in the Pacific, he attacked the Mariana
Islands invading Saipan, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Japanese Fleet
in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and capturing Guam and Tinian. His Fleet
Forces isolated enemy-held bastions of the Central and Eastern Caroline
Islands and secured in quick succession Peleliu, Angaur, and Ulithi. In the
Philippines his ships turned back powerful task forces of the Japanese
Fleet, a historic victory in the multi-phased Battle for Leyte Gulf 24 to 26
October 1944. Fleet Admiral Nimitz culminated his long-range strategy by
successful amphibious assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

On 2 September 1945 Fleet Admiral Nimitz signed for the United States when
Japan formally surrendered on board battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On 5
October 1945, which had been officially designated as "Nimitz Day" in
Washington, DC, Admiral Nimitz was personally presented a Gold Star in lieu
of the third Distinguished Service Medal by the President of the United
States "for exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief, U.S.
Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, from June 1944 to August 1945...."

On 26 November 1945 his nomination as Chief of Naval Operations, was
confirmed by the Senate and on 15 December 1945 he relieved Fleet Admiral
Ernest J. King. With characteristic efficiency he tackled the difficult task
of reducing the most powerful Navy in history to a fraction of its war-time
peak while establishing and overseeing programs for maintenance of Active
and Reserve fleets with the potential strength and readiness required to
support national policy.

On 15 December 1947, he was detached as Chief of Naval Operations and in San
Francisco, served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in the
Western Sea Frontier. The Admiral took an active interest in community
affairs, and helped restore good will with Japan -- the nation he did so
much to defeat in the War -- by helping raise funds for the restoration of
the battleship Mikasa, Admiral Heihachiro Togo's flagship at the Battle of
Tsushima in 1905.

Fleet Admiral Nimitz died at home on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco on
the evening of 29 February 1966.

Promotions:

   * Graduated from Naval Academy - 1905
   * Ensign - January 1907
   * Jr. Lieutenant - January 1910
   * Lieutenant - August 1916
   * Commander - March 1918
   * Captain - June 1927
   * Rear Admiral - June 1938
   * Admiral - December 1941
   * Fleet Admiral - December 1944