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Chester W. Nimitz

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Chester Nimitz
File:Chester Nimitz.jpg
Chester Nimitz
AllegianceUnited States Navy
Years of service1905-1947
RankFleet Admiral
CommandsUSS Chicago (CA-14)
USS Rigel (AR-11)
USS Augusta (CA-31)
Bureau of Navigation
United States Pacific Fleet
Chief of Naval Operations
Battles/warsWorld War II
* Battle of Coral Sea
* Battle of Midway
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Battle of the Philippine Sea
* Battle of Leyte Gulf
* Battle of Okinawa
*
AwardsDistinguished Service Medal
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (Army)
Order of Bath
Legion of Honor

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 United States' leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Navigation in 1939. He was his country's last surviving Fleet Admiral.

Early life

Chester W. Nimitz, son of Chester Bernhard and Anna (Henke) Nimitz, was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, where his house is now a museum. 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."

Originally young Nimitz had hoped to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point and become 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 the 12th Congressional District of Texas in 1901, and he graduated with distinction in January 1905, 7th in a class of 144. He was known throughout World War II as the "Island Hopper" during the Pacific campaign.

Military career

Early career

Ensign Nimitz, c. 1907

He joined battleship Ohio (BB-12) at San Francisco, and cruised in 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 Ensign. Remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served in Panay, Decatur, and Denver.

While Nimitz was a young 22 year-old ensign in the Philippines in command of the Decatur, a well-worn destroyer that had seen better days, one dark night he and his crew found themselves aground on a mudbank. While charts of these waters either did not exist or weren't reliable, nonetheless, Nimitz was court-martialed and convicted of hazarding a Navy ship and received a letter of reprimand. Although this incident could have ended his career, Nimitz was able to laugh about the incident years later.

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 (AO-2), under construction at the New London Ship and Engine Building Company, Groton, Connecticut.

In April 1913, he married Catherine Vance Freeman.

World War I

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 Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robinson, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On 6 February 1918 he was appointed Chief of Staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation 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.

Between the wars

From May 1919 to June 1920 he served as executive officer of South Carolina (BB-26). He then commanded Chicago (CA-14) 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 Officers Training Corps Unit.

Nimitz lost part of one finger to an accident with a diesel engine, only saving the rest of it--and his career--when the machine jammed against his Annapolis ring. He also suffered a severe ear infection, becoming partially deaf. He compensated by becoming a good lip reader.

In June 1929 he took command of Submarine Division 20. In June 1931 he assumed command of Rigel (AR-11) and the destroyers out of commission at San Diego, California. In October 1933 he took command of Augusta (CA-31) 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.

World War II

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins Navy Cross on Doris Miller, at ceremony on board warship in Pearl Harbor, May 27 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 tragic shortage of ships, planes and supplies, successfully organized his forces to halt the Japanese advance.

He was aided in this by the extreme loyalty he received from his staff, much of which he inherited at Pearl Harbor from Admiral Kimmel, and whom he neither blamed for, nor replaced after, the disaster. This was typical of the man. Once, when asked about not relieving a captain whose ship had run aground, he reminded his audience that he had been almost cashiered for the same offense. 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 materiel became available, Nimitz shifted to the offensive and, by his brilliant leadership, unflagging optimism, and outstanding skill as a strategist, defeated the enemy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and in the Solomon Islands Campaign.

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

Nimitz signing the Japanese surrender document.

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 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 persuaded the United States Army Air Forces to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air with B-29s 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 on the mainland of the USA for the duration of the war, and she did not join her husband at Hawaii or Guam.

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...."

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. With characteristic efficiency he tackled the difficult task of reducing the most powerful Navy in history to a smalle fraction of its war-time peak strength, while establishing and overseeing programs for maintenance of Active and Reserve fleets with the potential strength and readiness required to support national policy.

For the post-war trial of German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at the Nuremberg Trials, 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's life was spared by the tribunal.

Inactive Duty as a Fleet Admiral

On 15 December 1947, he "retired" from office of Chief of Naval Operations. However, since the rank of Fleet Admiral is a lifetime appointment, he actually remained on "active duty" for the rest of his life, with full pay and benefits. He and his wife Catherine moved to Berkeley, California, to live a quiet live, frequently visited by their three daughters, and their son, a career US naval offficer, and former associates from the Navy and Marines. After Adm. Nimitz suffered a serious fall in 1964, he and Mrs. Nimitz, moved from their Berkeley home to US Naval quarters provided on the Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay, California.

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 WW II, he worked to help restore goodwill with Japan - the nation he did so much to defeat in the War - by helping 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 UN 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 took an active interest in community affairs, and he served as a regent of the University of California from 1948-1956, where he had formerly been a faculty member, the Professor of Naval Science for the NROTC program at Berkeley. Nimitz was honored on 17 October 1964, by the University of California on Nimitz Day.

Nimitz never attempted to directly profit from the war, refusing to write his story, or to accept various lucrative positions offered him. He believed that any post-conflict second-guessing would not help the Navy, and that he should not profit from those who died in the conflict. This was in character with the man. Decades earlier a diesel engine manufacturer had offered him a salary eight times his Navy pay, but he refused to leave his beloved Naval service.

Chester and Catherine Nimitz 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 the PerkinElmer company 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 February 27, 2006 when she lost her battle with cancer.

Fleet Admiral Nimitz suffered a stroke, complicated by pneumonia, in late 1965. In January 1966, when the doctors could do little for him, he left the U.S. Naval Hospital (Oak Knoll) at Oakland, California, to return home to his naval quarters. He died at home on 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, San Bruno, California, on the day that would have been his 81st birthday.

The Nimitz Freeway, Interstate 880, in the eastern and southern San Francisco Bay area is named for the Fleet Admiral.

Dates of rank

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

Chester 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, Chester Nimitz's naval record annotates that he was promoted to both Lieutenant Junior Grade, and Lieutenant, on the same day.

Decorations and awards

United States awards

Foreign awards

Memorials

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

Preceded by United States Chief of Naval Operations
1945-1947 		Succeeded by

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

  • "Nimitz". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Historical Center, Department of the Navy. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  • "Some Thoughts to Live By", Chester W. Nimitz with Andrew Hamilton, ISBN 0-686-24072-3, reprinted from Boys' Life Magazine, 1966.

Biography

  • Potter, E. B. Nimitz, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1976.
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