Was Chester Nimitz famous

Answer 1

Not until he replaced Admiral Kimmel as Cincus in December, 1941, after Pearl Harbor. The unfortunate acronym "Cincus", meaning "Commander in Chief US" was confusing - the president is THE Commander in Chief - and was probably supposed to reflect the idea that much of the strength of the US Navy was in the Pacific. But with a two ocean war now underway, this dreadful acronym was changed and Nimitz became CincPac - "Commander in Chief Pacific" (only of the Navy and Marine Corps though). Nimitz actually had two jobs - besides commanding the US Pacific Fleet, he also was the commander of the Central Pacific Theater of Operation. (The Pacific was divided into two "Theaters" - mostly to give something to General MacArthur to do - MacArthur was in Australia after escaping from the Philippines, so the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations was carved out to give him an area of responsibility commensurate with his prestige). As CincPac and as Theater Commander in the Central Pacific, Nimitz, who was largely unknow outside the Navy before the war, became world famous. An entire "class" of modern nuclear powered aircraft carriers is the "Nimitz Class", to commemorate him and his great leadership.