Admirals of World War II: Chester Nimitz

(To Francesco Sisto)
07/01/25

Chester William Nimitz was one of the most important American admirals and strategists in World War II. Nimitz was the person able to lead the US Navy's recovery after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (see article Japanese intelligence in the Second World War: Operation Z): he commanded without hesitation – throughout the conflict – much of the US Navy's potential against the Japanese Empire.

Born in Fredericksburg (Texas) in 1885 to a family of German origins, he entered the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1901 and graduated in 1905, placing seventh out of 114 students.

The first boarding took place on the battleship Ohio and, in 1906, was transferred to the cruiser Baltimore. He later took up service on the gunboat Panay, on the destroyer Decatur on the cruiser Denver and on the gunboat Cleaning. Subsequently, the young officer was assigned to one of the newest specialties of the period: that of submarines.

In the winter of 1909, he began training in the First Submarine Flotilla, then board the submarine plunger, of which Nimitz himself would later become commander during his service on the Atlantic coast.

In February 1910, he took command of the vessel Snapper and, in the fall of 1911, became commander of the Third Submarine Division. He was subsequently sent to the U.S. Navy shipyards in Boston to assist and supervise the construction of the submarine Skipjack, "of which he will take the command when it enters service, on 14 February 1912".1

After the United States entered the war in April 1917, Nimitz was given the task of assistant engineer to the commander (Samuel S. Robison) of the submarine force of the Atlantic Fleet. Later, in February 1918, he was promoted Order and appointed Robison's chief of staff.

From May 1919 to June 1920, he was executive officer on the battleship South Carolina.

In June 1927, Nimitz was promoted captain and two years later he became commander of the Twentieth Submarine Division (based in San Diego). In October 1933, he was given command of the cruiser Augusta (photo).

From 1935 onwards, Nimitz worked mainly for the Navy Department in bureaucratic-administrative roles.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was appointed by President Roosevelt as Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet and was awarded the rank of four-star admiral.

Throughout the conflict, the admiral led – from the headquarters in Hawaii – the naval air operations against the Empire of the Rising Sun. Nimitz, during the war, applied the strategic concept of using naval groups centered on aircraft carriers protected by other ships. Furthermore, he developed the strategic concept of taking over the enemy's positions with the "grasshopper jump" system: this strategy consisted in concentrating efforts against the primary Japanese strongholds and leaving behind the secondary ones to be occupied later with less "effort".

Nimitz left active duty in December 1947 with the rank of fleet admiral. He died in San Francisco on February 20, 1966.

Professor E. B. Potter of the Naval Academy at Annapolis wrote of Nimitz thus: “He surrounded himself with the ablest men he could find and followed their advice, but he made his own decisions. He was a shrewd strategist who never forgot that he was dealing with human beings on both sides of the conflict. He was aggressive but without hatred, bold but never wrong in weighing the risks.”.2

1 F. Riggi, The great leaders of the Second World War, Newton Compton Editori, 2018, Rome, p. 538

2 Ibid., p.564

Photo: US Navy / web