Nimitz, Chester W

Nimitz, Chester W(illiam)

(born Feb. 24, 1885, Fredericksburg, Texas, U.S.—died Feb. 20, 1966, near San Francisco, Calif.) U.S. naval officer. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1905 and served in World War I with the U.S. Atlantic submarine force. He rose to become chief of the navy's bureau of navigation in 1939. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was made commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific fleet, which won the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea (1942). In succeeding years, the historic battles of the Solomon Islands (1942–43), the Gilbert Islands (1943), and Iwo Jima and Okinawa (1945) were fought under his direction. The Japanese surrender was signed aboard his flagship, the USS Missouri. From 1945 to 1947 he served as chief of naval operations.