Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Chester William Nimitz (1885–1966) was a five-star Fleet Admiral who served as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA) during World War II. Appointed ten days after the catastrophe of Pearl Harbor, Nimitz took command of a demoralized fleet with calm determination, unshakeable confidence, and organizational wisdom.

Acting on cryptanalytic intelligence from Station HYPO (Joe Rochefort), Nimitz ambushed the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers in a single day and permanently turning the tide of the Pacific War. Over the next three years, Nimitz directed the colossal Central Pacific island-hopping campaign—Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, Saipan, the Philippine Sea, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa—bringing US naval power directly to Tokyo Bay, where he signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the United States on September 2, 1945.