Chester W. Nimitz

• Born: 24 February 1885
• Birthplace: Fredericksburg, Texas
• Best Known As: Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in World War II

United States Admiral Chester William Nimitz was the commander of the Pacific Fleet during World War II, the man who directed the U.S. victories at Midway, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Nimitz grew up in Texas, raised by his widowed mother and grandfather. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1905 and was promoted to ensign by 1907. Nimitz's first command was the destroyer Decatur, but it ran aground in 1908; he was reprimanded and assigned to submarine duty. He spent the next three decades working his way up in the navy, commanding submarines and surface ships, serving in staff positions and becoming an expert on diesel engines. Following the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Nimitz to relieve Admiral Husband E. Kimmel as commander of the Pacific Fleet. An experienced and well-liked leader, Nimitz was also an effective military strategist who directed U.S. forces as they closed in on Japan, beginning in May and June of 1942 with the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Nimitz was promoted to the newly-created rank of fleet admiral in 1944 and became the naval equivalent to the army's General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the war Nimitz oversaw the demobilization of the navy, served as a United Nations goodwill ambassador and, later, co-authored Sea Power, A Naval History (1960). He and his wife settled in the San Francisco area, where Nimitz was active in the community and a regent at the University of California.

It was on Nimitz's flagship, the U.S.S. Missouri that the Japanese surrendered on 2 September 1945... Nimitz ordered the ambush that killed his Japanese counterpart, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto... In 1972 the U.S.S. Nimitz was launched, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the world's largest warship.

For more information on Chester William Nimitz, visit Britannica.com.

Nimitz, Adm Chester (1885-1966), commander of US forces in the Pacific campaign during WW II. In terms of the resources under his operational command and the strategic vision required of him, he was arguably the greatest admiral in history.

Appointed following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he made daring use of his aircraft carriers to halt further Japanese advances at Midway, while unleashing a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare that eventually sank more warship tonnage than all other arms combined. Despite the intense partisanship of King, his own C-in-C, and of his imperious subordinate MacArthur, he kept inter-service rivalry under control during the many combined operations that followed. A key factor was the lack of personal vanity he showed in letting MacArthur take the lead during the Japanese capitulation aboard the USS Missouri, confident that the battleship herself made a sufficiently clear statement about the navy's preponderant role in the victory.

Although honoured by his own countrymen, the Japanese respect him as a samurai on a par with their own great Adm Togo, whom he greatly admired. Behind his Texas birthplace there is a replica of the latter's garden, donated in gratitude for Nimitz's leading role in the restoration of Togo's flagship Mikasa.

— Hugh Bicheno

Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, on 24 February 1885, Nimitz graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1905, and served in the Pacific successively in a battleship and as commanding officer of a gunboat and of a destroyer. In 1909, transferred to the Atlantic for submarine duty, he made himself an expert in submarine diesel engines. In 1913, sent by the navy to Germany to perfect his knowledge of such engines, he returned and supervised construction of diesels in a new oiler. In World War I, Nimitz served as engineering aide and chief of staff to the commander of the U.S. Atlantic submarine flotilla.

Nimitz, recognizing his main talent, now shifted the direction of his career from operating machinery to directing people, a new emphasis put severely to the test in 1920 when he oversaw the building of a submarine base at Pearl Harbor. In 1922–23, Commander Nimitz attended the Naval War College. Thereafter, in a series of promotions, he rose in rank and command. In 1933, as captain, he commanded a heavy cruiser. In 1938, as rear admiral, he assumed command of Battleship Division One. The following year he went ashore as a bureau chief with the function of assembling and training officers and enlisted men for naval expansion in the impending World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, following the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, appointed Nimitz commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet and subsequently of the Pacific Ocean Areas, entrusting to his command all American and Allied sea, land, and air forces in the north, central, and south Pacific. From his Pearl Harbor headquarters, Nimitz directed growing American forces in the 1942 carrier battles of the Coral Sea and Midway and in the reconquest of Guadalcanal, victories that brought the southern and eastern advance of the Japanese to a halt and turned the tide of war.

In 1943, forces under Nimitz ousted the Japanese from the Aleutians and collaborated with Gen. Douglas MacArthur's southwest Pacific forces in reconquering the Solomons and eastern New Guinea. In 1944, the two commanders cooperated in a drive to the Philippines, MacArthur by amphibious advances along the New Guinea north coast, Nimitz by conquest of the Gilbert, Marshall, and Mariana islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, sea fights that virtually eliminated the Japanese fleet.

In 1945, Nimitz, wearing the five stars of his new rank of fleet admiral, directed the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa from his advanced headquarters on Guam and ordered the bombings and bombardments of Japan that preceded the Japanese capitulation. On the deck of the battleship Missouri he and General MacArthur signed the instrument of surrender on behalf of the United States.

Following the war, Nimitz served two years as chief of naval operations, then settled at Berkeley, California. He limited his public activities to making an occasional speech on behalf of the United Nations and serving as regent of the University of California. His health declining, the navy transferred him to more comfortable quarters on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay. Here he died 20 February 1966.

[See also World War II, U.S. Naval Operations in: The Pacific.]

Bibliography

• E. B. Potter, Nimitz, 1976

Nimitz, Chester William (1885-1966) five-star Fleet Admiral (1944), commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet (1941-45) and Pacific Ocean Area (1942-45) during World War II, born in Fredricksburg, Texas. As commander of all American and Allied sea, land, and air forces in the north, central, and south Pacific, Nimitz directed the American forces in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway (1942) and in the reconquest of Guadalcanal (1942-43), victories that turned the tide of the war. He also directed the battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf (1944), which virtually eliminated the Japanese fleet. Nimitz then directed the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa (1945) and ordered the bombings and bombardments of Japan that preceded the Japanese capitulation. After the war Nimitz served two years as chief of naval operations (1945-47) before reaching the mandatory retirement age. During World War I Nimitz, a diesel engine specialist, served as engineering aide and chief of staff to the commander of the U.S. Atlantic submarine flotilla.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966), American naval officer, commanded the Pacific Fleet during World War II and played a major role in formulating and executing the strategy which led to the defeat of Japan.

Chester Nimitz was born on Feb. 24, 1885, in Fredricksburg, Tex. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1905, seventh in a class of 114. Despite being court-martialed and reprimanded for running aground his second command, the destroyer Decatur, he rose relatively rapidly in the Navy. During World War I he was chief of staff to the commander of the Submarine Division, Atlantic Fleet. Later he was appointed the first professor of naval science at the University of California. During the 1930s he served aboard submarines, cruisers, and battleships. In 1939 Rear Adm. Nimitz was appointed chief of the Bureau of Navigation.

The Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor precipitated a major shake-up in the Navy's command structure. In December 1941 Nimitz was promoted to admiral and made commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. A few months later he was also named commander in chief of Allied forces in the Pacific Ocean area. This title proved somewhat inaccurate as Gen. Douglas MacArthur exercised an independent command over southwestern Pacific operations.

While realizing that the battered American fleet was in no condition to risk a major confrontation in early 1942, Nimitz knew that some offensive action was necessary to restore the Navy's confidence. He authorized a series of fast carrier strikes upon Japanese positions, culminating with Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo. While inflicting only limited damage, these helped maintain morale.

Nimitz's skill as a strategist and his ability to delegate authority produced more concrete results later in 1942 when he directed the Navy's actions in May at the Battle of the Coral Sea, which slowed Japan's advance southward, and in June at the Battle of Midway, where Japan's attack across the central Pacific was permanently halted. The United States next moved to occupy the island of Guadalcanal. When the first months of this operation produced heavy American naval losses, pressures began to build for evacuation. Nimitz, while admitting the gravity of the situation, continued to pour all available aid into the area and in October appointed the popular and aggressive Adm. William Halsey its overall commander. The following month Halsey decisively defeated the Japanese fleet, ensuring victory on Guadalcanal.

In 1943, with new units rapidly joining the fleet, the United States began major Pacific offensives. A dual approach was approved, with a force under Nimitz attacking across the central Pacific, while MacArthur's command moved up from New Guinea. Nimitz played a major role in developing the "leapfrogging" tactic of bypassing strongly held enemy positions and then neutralizing them by aerial attack and naval blockade.

Adm. Nimitz contributed major organizational methods to the Pacific war. He devoted considerable effort to creating forward repair stations and maintenance squadrons, without which the war effort might have been seriously hampered. He also devised the separate fleet staff organizations for his single fleet of fast carriers and their supporting vessels. While one staff commanded operations at sea, the other planned the next assaults. This arrangement provided continuous pressure upon the Japanese, leading them to overestimate American naval strength, and created as well improved command procedures.

In 1944 Nimitz was made a five-star fleet admiral. This gave him rank equal to Gen. MacArthur at a time when distinctions between their areas of command were becoming increasingly vague. Despite previous differences, they worked well together during the final stages of the war. In August 1945 Japan surrendered, and the following month, on behalf of the United States, Adm. Nimitz signed its instrument of surrender.

Following the war Nimitz was appointed chief of naval operations. In this position he dealt effectively with the massive problems of demobilization and successfully defended the Navy's continued control over carrier aviation under the proposed unification of the armed services. In December 1947 he retired and moved to San Francisco. From 1949 he devoted much time to serving as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations. He died in San Francisco on Feb. 20, 1966.

Further Reading

There is no book-length study of Nimitz's career. Many of his ideas on strategy can be gleaned from the volume which he and E. B. Porter coauthored, Sea Power: A Naval History (1961). Probably the best one-volume history of the U.S. Navy's role in World War II is Samuel Eliot Morison, The Two Ocean War (1963). The development and use of naval air power in the Pacific are well set forth in Clarke G. Reynolds, The History and Development of the Fast Carrier Task Forces, 1943-45 (1964), and Joseph James Clark and Clark G. Reynolds, Carrier Admiral (1967).

Additional Sources

Brink, Randall., Nimitz: the man and his wars, New York: D.I. Fine Books/Dutton, 1996.

Driskill, Frank A., Admiral of the hills: Chester W. Nimitz, Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press, 1983.

Potter, E. B. (Elmer Belmont), Nimitz, Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, 1988.

(1885-1966), World War II admiral. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, Nimitz graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1905. He entered the submarine service, commanded the experimental submarine A-1, and became an expert in the new field of diesel engineering. In World War I he wrote a study of U-boat operations that influenced American naval strategy in 1918.

Between the wars Nimitz's career followed a conventional course until, in 1939, he was named chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Nimitz failed utterly to persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt to greatly increase navy manpower before Pearl Harbor, and his detailing of flag officers was disastrous. But this was not evident at the time, and the post brought Nimitz into frequent contact with Navy Secretary Frank Knox, who placed him in command of the Pacific Fleet after the Pearl Harbor debacle.

Nimitz presided over the immense expansion of the Pacific Fleet after 1942 and oversaw the great south and central Pacific offensives that destroyed the Japanese navy and brought American forces to Japan's doorstep by the summer of 1945. Strategy was conceived in Washington by the dynamic, hard-driving chief of naval operations, Adm. Ernest King, who kept a close watch on Nimitz's work during bimonthly conferences held throughout the war. Nimitz's main contribution was to make into a winning team such different personalities as the overly aggressive Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, the extremely conservative Adm. Raymond Spruance, and Marine Corps Gen. Holland M. Smith, whose demeanor was well expressed in his nickname, "Howlin' Mad."

Although Nimitz was jealous of his perks and prerogatives as a theater commander, his ceremonial dignity, personal warmth, and common sense were great strengths. On the other hand, he was bitterly criticized by naval aviators who correctly observed that he repeatedly allowed the Pacific Fleet carriers to be mishandled by the "battleship admirals." King's answer was to surround Nimitz with a strong staff, headed by Rear Adm. Forrest Sherman, his chief planner, with the result that Nimitz made few major mistakes. Nimitz, who always functioned best in an all-navy environment, was mostly blind to the grand politics of the war he was managing and to the enormous forces it was unleashing.

In late 1945, King forced Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal to appoint Nimitz to succeed him as chief of naval operations, but within six months King and others were agitating for his ouster. Nimitz lacked the drive needed to master the new political and strategic problems of the cold war, and he was incapable of waging the bare-knuckle public brawl necessary to preserve American naval power against the new U.S. Air Force in the early days of defense unification. He retired in 1947. Unlike other wartime leaders, Nimitz was never recalled to government service.

Bibliography:

Edwin Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals (1970); E. B. Potter, Nimitz (1976); Clark Reynold, The Fast Carriers (1967).

Author:

Robert W. Love, Jr.

See also Armed Forces; World War II.

The commander of the United States Pacific Fleet during World War II.

Chester Nimitz
24 February 1885(1885-02-24) – 20 February 1966 (aged 80)
Chester Nimitz as Fleet Admiral
Place of birth	Fredericksburg, Texas
Place of death	Yerba Buena Island
Resting place	Golden Gate National Cemetery San Bruno, California
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1905-1947
Rank	Fleet Admiral
Service number	5572
Commands held	USS Chicago (CA-14) USS Rigel (AR-11) USS Augusta (CA-31) Bureau of Navigation United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas Chief of Naval Operations
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Battle of Coral Sea Battle of Midway Solomon Islands campaign Battle of the Philippine Sea Battle of Leyte Gulf Battle of Okinawa
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal (4) Army Distinguished Service Medal Order of the Bath Legion of Honor
Other work	Regent of the University of California

Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, USN (24 February 1885 – 20 February 1966) was a five-star admiral in the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet ("CinCPac" pronounced "sink-pack"), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.^[1] He was the leading U.S. Navy authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Navigation in 1939. He served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States' last surviving Fleet Admiral.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Military career 2.1 Early career 2.2 World War I 2.3 Between the wars 2.4 World War II 2.5 Post war 3 Inactive Duty as a Fleet Admiral 4 Dates of rank 5 Decorations and awards 5.1 United States awards 5.2 Foreign awards 6 Memorials 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Early life

Chester W. Nimitz, a German Texan, was the son of Chester Bernhard and Anna (Henke) Nimitz. He was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, where his house is now the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site. His father died before he was born. He was significantly influenced by his grandfather, Charles H. Nimitz, a former seaman in the German Merchant Marine, who taught him, "the sea - like life itself - is a stern taskmaster. The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best and don't worry - especially about things over which you have no control."^[2]

Originally, young Nimitz applied to West Point in hopes of becoming an Army officer, but there were no appointments available. His congressman, James L. Slayden, told him that he had one appointment available for the Navy and that he would award it to the best qualified candidate. Nimitz felt that this was his only opportunity for further education and spent extra time studying to earn the appointment. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Texas's 12th congressional district in 1901, and he graduated with distinction on 30 January 1905, seventh in a class of 114.^[3]

Military career

Early career

Ensign Nimitz, c. 1907

He joined the battleship Ohio (BB-12) at San Francisco, and cruised on her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was transferred to Baltimore (C-3); and, on 31 January 1907, after the two years at sea then required by law, he was commissioned as an Ensign. Remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on USS Panay, USS Decatur, and USS Denver.

While Nimitz was a 22-year-old ensign in the Philippines and conning the destroyer USS Decatur (DD-5), his ship ran aground on a mudbank. But, he successfully rescued a man overboard when the ship ran into the mudbank. Nimitz was court-martialed and convicted of hazarding a Navy ship and received a letter of reprimand.^[4]

Nimitz returned to the United States on USS 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 USS Plunger, later renamed A-1. He commanded USS Snapper (later renamed C-5) when that submarine was commissioned on 2 February 1910, and on 18 November 1910 assumed command of USS 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 USS 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 Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh, from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action.

After commanding the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla from May 1912 to March 1913, he supervised the building of diesel engines for the tanker USS Maumee, under construction at the New London Ship and Engine Building Company, Groton, Connecticut.

Nimitz married Catherine Vance Freeman (March 1892 - 1 February 1979) on 9 April 1913, in Wollaston, Massachusetts.^[4]

Nimitz had a son, Chester Nimitz Jr who also served in the United States Navy.

World War I

In the summer of 1913, Nimitz studied engines at the diesel engine plants in Nuremberg, Germany, and Ghent, Belgium. Returning to the New York Navy Yard, he became Executive and Engineer Officer of the fleet oiler Maumee on her commissioning, 23 October 1916. On 10 August 1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robinson, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (COMSUBLANT). On 6 February 1918, Nimitz was appointed Chief of Staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for meritorious service as COMSUBLANT's Chief of Staff. On 16 September, 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.

Between the wars

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 the Navy's first Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit.

Nimitz lost part of one finger in an accident with a diesel engine, only saving the rest of it—and his career—when the machine jammed against his Annapolis ring.^[5]. Nimitz barked orders even through the unbearable pain.

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 deployed to the Far East, where in December the Augusta 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.

World War II

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Dorie Miller, at ceremony on board warship in Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1942

Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 he was selected Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CinCPAC), 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 shortage of ships, planes and supplies, successfully organized his forces to halt the Japanese advance.

On 24 March 1942, the newly-formed US-British Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. Six days later the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) divided the theater into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur), and the South East Pacific Area. The JCS designated Nimitz as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas CinCPOA, with operational control over all Allied units (air, land, and sea) in that area.

As rapidly as ships, men, and material became available, Nimitz shifted to the offensive and defeated the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the pivotal Battle of Midway, and in the Solomon Islands Campaign.

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 appointed Admiral Nimitz to that rank. Nimitz took the oath of that office on 19 December 1944.

Tokyo Bay -- Surrender of Japanese aboard USS Missouri. Admiral Chester Nimitz, representing the United States, signs the instrument of surrender.

In the final phases in the war in the Pacific, he attacked the Mariana Islands, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Japanese Fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and capturing Saipan, 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. In addition, Nimitz also ordered the United States Army Air Forces to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air with B-29 Superfortresses in a successful mission called Operation Starvation, which severely interrupted the Japanese logistics.

In January 1945, Nimitz moved the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet forward from Pearl Harbor to Guam for the remainder of the war. Mrs. Nimitz remained in the United States for the duration of the war, and she did not join her husband in Hawaii or Guam.

On 2 September 1945 Nimitz signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board the Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On 5 October 1945, which had been officially designated as "Nimitz Day" in Washington, D.C., 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...."

Post war

On 26 November 1945 his nomination as Chief of Naval Operations was confirmed by the US Senate, and on 15 December 1945 he relieved Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. He had assured the President that he was willing to serve as the CNO for one two-year term, but no longer. He tackled the difficult task of reducing the most powerful Navy in the world to a fraction of its war-time strength, while establishing and overseeing active and reserve fleets with the strength and readiness required to support national policy.

For the post-war trial of German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, Admiral Nimitz furnished an affidavit in support of the practice of unrestricted submarine warfare, a practice that he himself had employed throughout the war in the Pacific. This evidence is widely credited as a reason why Dönitz was only sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. After Dönitz was released, Admiral Nimitz went to visit Dönitz.

On 14 March 1950, in United Nations Security Council Resolution 80 the governments of India and Pakistan both agreed that he should administer the plebiscite that would determine the fate of Jammu and Kashmir.

Inactive Duty as a Fleet Admiral

On 15 December 1947, Nimitz retired from office of Chief of Naval Operations and received a third Gold Star in lieu of a fourth Navy Distinguished Service Medal. However, since the rank of Fleet Admiral is a lifetime appointment, he remained on active duty for the rest of his life, with full pay and benefits. He and his wife Catherine moved to Berkeley, California. After he suffered a serious fall in 1964, he and Catherine moved to US Naval quarters on Yerba Buena Island in the San Francisco Bay.

In San Francisco, he served in the mostly ceremonial post as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in the Western Sea Frontier. After World War II, he worked to help restore goodwill with Japan by helping to raise funds for the restoration of the Japanese Imperial Navy battleship Mikasa, Admiral Heihachiro Togo's flagship at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. He was also suggested as a United Nations envoy to help mediate the Kashmir dispute, but due to the deterioration of relations between India and Pakistan, the mission did not take place.

Nimitz became a member of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. In 1948, Nimitz sponsored a Bohemian dinner in honor of Army General Mark Clark, known for his campaigns in North Africa and Italy.^[6]

Nimitz served as a regent of the University of California from 1948-1956, where he had formerly been a faculty member as a professor of Naval Science for the NROTC program. Nimitz was honored on 17 October 1964, by the University of California on Nimitz Day.

Nimitz and his wife had four children: Catherine Vance (b. 1914), Chester, Jr., (1915-2002), Anna (1919-2003), and Mary (1931-2006). Chester W. Nimitz, Jr., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936, and he served as a submariner in the Navy until his retirement in 1957, reaching the (post-retirement) rank of Rear Admiral; he served as chairman of PerkinElmer from 1969-1980. Anna Elizabeth ("Nancy") Nimitz was an expert on the Soviet economy at the RAND Corporation from 1952 until her retirement in the 1980s. Sister Mary Aquinas (Nimitz) became a sister in the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), working at Dominican University of California teaching biology for 16 years, academic dean for 11 years, acting president for 1 year, and vice president for institutional research for 13 years before becoming the university's Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. She held this job until her death 27 February 2006 when she lost her battle with cancer.

Nimitz suffered a stroke, complicated by pneumonia, in late 1965. In January 1966 he left the U.S. Naval Hospital (Oak Knoll) in Oakland to return home to his naval quarters. He died the evening of 20 February 1966. The place of death is Quarters One on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay. He was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California on 24 February 1966.

Dates of rank

• Midshipman - January 1905

Ensign	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Lieutenant	Lieutenant Commander	Commander	Captain
O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6
7 January 1907	never held	31 January 1910	29 August 1916	1 February 1918	2 June 1927

Rear Admiral (lower half)	Rear Admiral (upper half)	Vice Admiral	Admiral	Fleet Admiral
O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	O-11
never held	23 June 1938	never held	31 December 1941	19 December 1944

• Fleet Admiral - rank made permanent in the United States Navy on 13 May 1946, a lifetime appointment.

At the time of Nimitz's promotion to Rear Admiral, the United States Navy did not maintain a one-star rank. Nimitz was thus promoted directly from a Captain to a two-star Rear Admiral. By Congressional Appointment, he skipped the rank of Vice Admiral and became a four-star Admiral in December 1941.

Nimitz also never held the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade, as he was appointed a full Lieutenant after three years of service as an Ensign. For administrative reasons, Nimitz's naval record states that he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and Lieutenant on the same day.

Decorations and awards

United States awards

Submarine Warfare insignia

	Navy Distinguished Service Medal with three gold stars
	Army Distinguished Service Medal
	Silver Lifesaving Medal
	World War I Victory Medal with Escort Clasp and Navy Commendation Star
	American Defense Service Medal
	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
	World War II Victory Medal
	National Defense Service Medal

Foreign awards

• United Kingdom - Knight Grand Cross of the British Order of the Bath
• United Kingdom - Pacific Star
• France - Légion d'honneur
• Philippines - Philippine Medal of Valor
• Philippines - Liberation Medal with one bronze service star
• Netherlands - Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords in the Degree of the Knight Grand Cross
• Greece - Grand Cross of the Order of George I
• China - Grand Cordon of Pao Ting (Tripod) Special Class
• Guatemala - Cross of Military Merit First Class (Spanish: La Cruz de Merito Militar de Primera Clase)
• Cuba - Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes
• Argentina - Order of the Liberator (Spanish: Orden del Libertador San Martin)
• Ecuador - Star of Abdon Calderon (1st Class)
• Argentina - Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator
• Belgium - Grand Cross Order of the Crown (Belgium) with Palm (French: Grand Croix de l'ordre de la Couronne avec palme)
• Belgium - Cross of War with Palm (French: Croix de Guerre Avec Palme)
• Italy - Knight of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Italy (Cavaliere di Gran Croce)
• Brazil - Order of Naval Merit (Ordem do Merito Naval)

Memorials

USS Nimitz at sea near Victoria, British Columbia.

Nimitz' headstone at Golden Gate National Cemetery

Besides the honor of being on a United States postage stamp, the following institutions and locations have been named in honor of Nimitz:

• USS Nimitz, the first of her class of ten nuclear-powered supercarriers, which was commissioned in 1975 and remains in service.
• Nimitz Foundation, established in 1970, which funds the National Museum of the Pacific War
• The Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880) - from Oakland to San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Nimitz Glacier in Antarctica for his service during Operation Highjump as the CNO.
• Nimitz Boulevard - a major throughfare in the Point Loma Neighborhood of San Diego.
• The Nimitz Highway - Hawaiian state route 92 on Oahu
• The Nimitz Library, the main library at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
• Callahan Hall (the ROTC Building at UC Berkeley) containing the "Nimitz Library" was gutted by arson in 1985

• Nimitz High School, Irving, Texas
• Nimitz High School (Harris County, Texas)
• Chester W. Nimitz Junior High School, Odessa, Texas
• Nimitz Middle School, Huntington Park, California
• Nimitz Middle School, San Antonio, Texas
• Nimitz Elementary School, Sunnyvale, California.
• Nimitz Elementary School, Kerrville, Texas
• Chester W. Nimitz Elementary School Honolulu, Hawaii
• Nimitz Middle School Tulsa, Oklahoma
• The Nimitz Trail in Tilden Park in Berkeley, California.
• Chester Nimitz Oriental Garden Waltz performed by Austin Lounge Lizards
• The summit on Guam where Chester Nimitz relocated his Pacific Fleet headquarters, and where the current Commander U.S. Naval Forces Marianas resides, is called Nimitz Hill.

• Main Gate at Pearl Harbor is called "Nimitz Gate"
• Admiral Nimitz Circle - located in Fair Park, Dallas, Texas.
• The Nimitz Park in US Sasebo Base.

Military offices
Preceded by Ernest J. King	United States Chief of Naval Operations 1945-1947	Succeeded by Louis E. Denfeld

See also

World War I portal

World War II portal

United States Navy portal

• Henry Arnold Karo -- see hand-written inscription on photo given to Adm. Karo

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• "Some Thoughts to Live By," Chester W. Nimitz with Andrew Hamilton, ISBN 0-686-24072-3, reprinted from Boys' Life Magazine, 1966.
• "Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz". Frequently Asked Questions. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-4.htm. Retrieved 10 May 2007. 

1. ^ Potter, E. B. (1976). Nimitz. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. pp. 45. ISBN 0870214926. 
2. ^ John Woolley and Gerhard Peters. "Gerald R. Ford: Remarks at the U.S.S. Nimitz Commissioning Ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia". The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4890. Retrieved 10 May 2007. 
3. ^ "Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Biographical Sketch". The National Museum of the Pacific War. http://www.nimitz-museum.org/nimitzbio.htm. Retrieved 10 May 2007. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "USS Nimitz (CVA(N)-68)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n5/nimitz.htm. Retrieved 10 May 2007. 
5. ^ Potter, p. 126.
6. ^ Navy Department Library. "Documents relating to Admiral Nimitz's naval career." Retrieved on July 10, 2009.

Further reading

• Potter, E. B. Nimitz. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1976. ISBN 978-0870214929.
• Potter, E. B., and Chester W. Nimitz. Sea Power. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960. ISBN 0137968701.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chester W. Nimitz

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chester W. Nimitz

• Mark J. Denger. "Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, A Five Star Submariner". Californians and the Military. California State Military Museum. http://www.militarymuseum.org/Nimitz.html. Retrieved 3 December 2003. 
• National Museum of the Pacific War
• USS Nimitz Association
• Nimitz-class Navy Ships at Federation of American Scientists
• Nimitz State Historic Site in Fredericksburg, Texas
• "The Navy‘s Part in the World War," (26 Nov 1945). A speech by Nimitz from the Commonwealth Club of California Records at the Hoover Institution Archives.
• Texas Navy hosted by The Portal to Texas History. A survey of the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution and the Republic Era. Includes maps, sketches, a list of ships of the Texas Navy, and a chronology. Also includes photographs of 20th century U.S. Navy ships named after Texans or Texas locations. See photos of Chester Nimitz and the Nimitz hotel.

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Military offices
Preceded by William S. Pye	Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet 1941-1945	Succeeded by Raymond A. Spruance
Awards and achievements
Preceded by William Hood Simpson	Cover of Time Magazine 26 February 1945	Succeeded by Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia

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