Ten days after Pearl Harbor, Chester Nimitz was chosen to command a Pacific Fleet with its battleships in the mud; he took over on 31 December. Less than four years later he stood on a battleship in Tokyo Bay to sign Japan's surrender for the United States. Between the two he ran one of the largest naval campaigns in history.
Command after Pearl Harbor
Nimitz was a quiet, methodical officer who inspired trust.1 Given the wrecked Pacific Fleet in December 1941, he steadied it2 and looked for a chance to strike back rather than simply defend.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Doris Miller at Pearl Harbor on 27 May 1942, honouring his courage during the Japanese attack. Public domain
Midway
That chance came in June 1942. American codebreakers warned Nimitz that Japan meant to trap his carriers at3Midway. He gambled, laid an ambush of his own4, and his dive-bombers sank four Japanese fleet carriers in a single day. Midway broke Japan's offensive power and turned the Pacific war.
The Battle of Midway, June 1942: the Japanese forces converging on the atoll and the American carrier striking forces waiting to the north east. Map from the US Military Academy history department. Public domain
The road to Tokyo Bay
From there Nimitz drove west, directing the island-hopping campaign that seized key islands, from5Guadalcanal and the Marianas to Iwo Jima and Okinawa, while bypassing others, carrying the fleet ever closer to Japan. Made a five-star Fleet Admiral, he signed the Japanese surrender for the United States aboard USS Missouri2 on 2 September 1945.
Nimitz signs the Japanese surrender document for the United States aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945. Behind him stand General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral William Halsey and Rear Admiral Forrest Sherman. US Navy photograph. Public domain
He was the American admiral who commanded the US Pacific Fleet5 in the Second World War (1885 to 1966) and led it from the disaster at Pearl Harbor to victory over Japan.
What is Nimitz famous for?
For winning the Battle of Midway in 1942 and directing the island-hopping campaign that carried the US fleet across the Pacific to Japan.
How did Nimitz win at Midway?
US codebreakers revealed Japan's plan, so Nimitz positioned his carriers to ambush the Japanese fleet; his aircraft sank four enemy carriers and turned the Pacific war.
What was island-hopping?
It was the strategy of seizing selected islands as air and naval bases while bypassing strongly held ones, steadily advancing toward Japan without capturing every position.
Did Nimitz accept Japan's surrender?
He signed the Japanese instrument of surrender for the United States aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
What was Nimitz's leadership style?
Calm, careful and trusting: he planned thoroughly, then gave able subordinates room to act, keeping his composure through the war's worst moments.
Command the Pacific Fleet
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