Chester Nimitz was the American admiral who commanded the United States Pacific Fleet through the Second World War and led the naval campaign that defeated Japan. Born in the Texas hill country, far from the sea, he entered the Naval Academy and became an early expert in submarines and diesel propulsion, building a steady reputation as a capable and even-tempered officer over decades of peacetime service.
Days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Nimitz was given command of the shattered Pacific Fleet. With calm confidence he set about rebuilding it and taking the fight to the enemy. His masterstroke came at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, when, aided by superb code-breaking intelligence, his outnumbered carriers ambushed and destroyed the heart of the Japanese carrier force — the turning point of the Pacific war.
Nimitz then directed the vast island-hopping campaign that drove relentlessly across the Pacific toward Japan, combining carrier task forces, amphibious landings, and submarines in a sustained offensive of enormous scale. A modest and unflappable leader, he was skilled at managing the strong personalities under his command.
Promoted to the newly created rank of fleet admiral, he stood aboard the battleship Missouri to sign the Japanese surrender on behalf of the United States in September 1945. After the war he served as Chief of Naval Operations. Honored as one of America's greatest naval commanders, he died in 1966.