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Test Chester W. Nimitz, a german texan, was the son of Chester Bernhard and Anna (Henke) Nimitz. He was born 24 February 1885 in Fredericksburg, Texas, where his house is now the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site. His frail, rheumatic father died before he was born. He was significantly influenced by his grandfather, Charles Henry Nimitz, a former seaman in the German Merchant Marine, who taught him, "the sea - like life itself - is a stern taskmaster. The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best and don't worry - especially about things over which you have nHe joined the battleshipOhio at San Francisco, and cruised on her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiserBaltimore ; and, on 31 January 1907, after the two years at sea as a warrant officer then required by law, he was commissioned as an Ensign. Remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on the gunboat Panay, destroyer Decatua , and cruiser Denver.

When Nimitz was 22 years old, he was stationed on the destroyer //Decatur//, which had run aground on a mudbank in the Philippines. However, he successfully rescued a man overboard. Nimitz was court-martialed and convicted of hazarding a Navy ship and received a letter of reprimand. Nimitz returned to the United States onboard USS //Ranger// when that vessel was converted to a school ship, and in January 1909 began instruction in the First Submarine Flotilla. In May of that year he was given command of the flotilla, with additional duty in command of USS Plunger, later renamed //A-1//. He commandedUSS //Snapper// (later renamed //C-5//) when that submarine was commissioned on 2 February 1910, and on 18 November 1910 assumed command of USS //Narwhal// (later renamed //D-1//). In the latter command he had additional duty from 10 October 1911, as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. In November 1911 he was ordered to the Boston Navy Yard, to assist in fitting out USS //Skipjack// and assumed command of that submarine, which had been renamed //E-1//, at her commissioning on 14 February 1912. On 20 March 1912 he rescued Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh, from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action. After commanding the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla from May 1912 to March 1913, he supervised the building of diesel engines for the tanker Maumee, under construction at the New London Ship and Engine Company, Groton, Connecticut.

In the summer of 1913, Nimitz studied engines at the diesel engine plants in Nuremberg, Germany, and Ghent, Belgium. Returning to the New York Navy Yard, he became Executive and Engineer Officer of the fleet oiler //Maumee// on her commissioning, 23 October 1916. After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 Nimitz was on board the //Maumee// when it served as a refueling ship for the first squadron of U.S. Navy destroyers to cross the Atlantic to participate in the war. During this time //Maumee// conducted the first ever underway refuelings. On 10 August 1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robison, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On 6 February 1918, Nimitz was appointed Chief of Staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for meritorious service as COMSUBLANT 's Chief of Staff. On 16 September, he reported to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and on 25 October was given additional duty as Senior Member, Board of Submarine Design.

From May 1919 to June 1920 he served as executive officer of the battleship South Carolina. He then commanded the cruiser Chicago with additional duty in command of Submarine Division 14, based at Pearl Harbor. Returning to the mainland in the summer of 1922, he studied at theNaval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and in June 1923, became Aide and Assistant Chief of Staff to Commander Battle Fleet, and later to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet. In August 1926 he went to the University of California, Berkeley to establish the Navy's first Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit. Nimitz lost part of one finger in an accident with a diesel engine, only saving the rest of it when the machine jammed against his Annapolisring. Nimitz barked orders even through the excruciating pain. In June 1929 he took command of Submarine Division 20. In June 1931 he assumed command of the destroyer tender Rigel and the destroyers out of commission at San Diego, California. In October 1933 he took command of the cruiser <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;">Augusta and deployed to the Far East, where in December //Augusta// became flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. In April 1935, he returned home for three years as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, before becoming Commander, Cruiser Division 2, Battle Force. In September 1938 he took command of Battleship Division 1, Battle Force. On 15 June 1939 he was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.o control."

<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">Originally, young Nimitz applied to West Point in hopes of becoming an Army officer, but there were no appointments available. His congressman, James L. Slayden, told him that he had one appointment available for the Navy and that he would award it to the best qualified candidate. Nimitz felt that this was his only opportunity for further education and spent extra time studying to earn the appointment. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Texas's 12th congressional district in 1901, and he graduated with distinction on 30 January 1905, seventh in a class of 114.. Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 he was selected Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CinCPAC), with the rank of Admiral, effective from 31 December. Assuming command at the most critical period of the war in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz, despite the losses from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the shortage of ships, planes and supplies, successfully organized his forces to halt the Japanese advance. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">On 24 March 1942, the newly-formed US-British Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating thePacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. Six days later the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) divided the theater into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur), and the South East Pacific Area. The JCS designated Nimitz as//Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas// ,with operational control over all Allied units (air, land, and sea) in that area. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">As rapidly as ships, men, and material became available, Nimitz shifted to the offensive and defeated the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the pivotal Battle of Midway, and in the Solomon Islands Campaign. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">By Act of Congress, approved 14 December 1944, the grade of Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy — the highest grade in the Navy — was established and the next day President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt appointed Admiral Nimitz to that rank. Nimitz took the oath of that office on 19 December 1944. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">In the final phases in the war in the Pacific, he attacked the Mariana Islands, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Japanese Fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and capturing Saipan, Guam, and Tinian. His Fleet Forces isolated enemy-held bastions of the Central and Eastern Caroline Islands and secured in quick succession Peleliu, Angaur, and Ulithi. In the Philippines, his ships turned back powerful task forces of the Japanese Fleet, a historic victory in the multi-phased Battle for Leyte Gulf 24 to 26 October 1944. Fleet Admiral Nimitz culminated his long-range strategy by successful amphibious assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In addition, Nimitz also ordered the United States Army Air Forces to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air withB-29 Superfortresses in a successful mission called Operation Starvation, which severely interrupted the Japanese logistics. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">In January 1945, Nimitz moved the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet forward from Pearl Harbor to Guam for the remainder of the war. Mrs Nimitz remained in the continental United States for the duration of the war, and she did not join her husband in Hawaii or Guam. <span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">On 2 September 1945 Nimitz signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board the M//issour// in Tokyo Bay. On 5 October 1945, which had been officially designated as "Nimitz Day" in Washington, D.C., Admiral Nimitz was personally presented a Gold Star in lieu of the third Distinguished Service Medal by the President of the United States "for exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, from June 1944 to August 1945...."