Chester W. Nimitz
Chester William Nimitz (/ˈnɪmɪts/; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.[2]
Chester W. Nimitz
February 24, 1885
Fredericksburg, Texas, U.S.
February 20, 1966 (aged 80)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
United States
1905–1966[1]
5572
- Chief of Naval Operations
- Pacific Ocean Areas
- United States Pacific Fleet
- Bureau of Navigation
- USS Augusta (CA-31)
- USS Rigel (AR-11)
- USS Chicago (CA-14)
- Atlantic Submarine Flotilla
- USS Skipjack (SS-24)
- 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet
- USS Narwhal (SS-17)
- USS Snapper (SS-16)
- USS Plunger (SS-2)
- First Submarine Flotilla
- USS Decatur (DD-5)
Charles Henry Nimitz (grandfather)
Chester Nimitz Jr. (son)
Nimitz was the leading US Navy authority on submarines. Qualified in submarines during his early years, he later oversaw the conversion of these vessels' propulsion from gasoline to diesel, and then later was key in acquiring approval to build the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, whose propulsion system later completely superseded diesel-powered submarines in the US. He also, beginning in 1917, was the Navy's leading developer of underway replenishment techniques, the tool which during the Pacific war would allow the US fleet to operate away from port almost indefinitely. The chief of the Navy's Bureau of Navigation in 1939, Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States' last surviving officer who served in the rank of fleet admiral. The USS Nimitz supercarrier, the lead ship of her class, is named after him.
Death[edit]
In late 1965, Nimitz suffered a stroke, complicated by pneumonia. In January 1966, he left the US Naval Hospital (Oak Knoll) in Oakland to return home to his naval quarters. He died at home on the evening of February 20 at Quarters One on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay, four days before his 81st birthday.[47] His funeral on February 24—what would have been his 81st birthday—was at the chapel of adjacent Naval Station Treasure Island, and Nimitz was buried with full military honors at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.[48][49][50][51] He lies alongside his wife and his lifelong friends Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Admiral Richmond K. Turner, and Admiral Charles A. Lockwood and their wives, an arrangement made by all of them while living.[52]