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Register of the Nimitz (Chester W.) Collection,
1885-1962
Mss144
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Title: Nimitz (Chester W.) Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1885-1962
Collection number: Mss144
Creator:
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Nimitz (Chester W.) Collection, Mss144,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966) was Commander-in-Chief of the U.S.
Pacific Fleet during World War II. At the age of 15 he received a congressional
appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from which he graduated with distinction
in 1905. After two years of duty in the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, Nimitz was sent to
the Philippines, where he commanded a gunboat, and later a destroyer. When the
destroyer ran aground, Nimitz was court-martialed and found guilty, but was let
off with a reprimand. Returning to the U.S. in 1908 he commanded a succession
of submarines and became an expert on diesel engines and undersea warfare.
During World War I, Nimitz was Chief of Staff to the Commander of the Submarine
Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Following the War he organized the Naval Reserve
Officers' Training Corps at the University of California, was Assistant Chief
at the Bureau of Navigation and commanded a battleship division. In 1938 he was
promoted to Rear Admiral.
When the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Nimitz was chief
of the Bureau of Navigation. Called frequently into consultation during the
next few days by the Secretary of the Navy, he was appointed Admiral in command
the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and, in 1942, he was also appointed Commander-in-Chief
of the Pacific Ocean Area. By 1943, Nimitz, exploiting his growing amphibious
and carrier strength, opened a new, shorter line of advance in the Central
Pacific. After capturing Japanese positions in the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the
Marianas and the Palaus, Nimitz' forces supported Gen. Douglas MacArthur's
forces in their re-conquest of the Philippines. The U.S. Pacific Fleet in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944) and the Battle for Leyte Gulf (October
1944) further reduced the Japanese Navy until, in 1945, Nimitz' forces captured
Iwo Jima and Okinawa and his carriers began to raid Japan. On September 2,
aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Nimitz was a signer of the
instrument of Japanese surrender. An expert judge of men, Nimitz gave the
officers under him as little interference as possible. His tact and serenity
were proverbial. Confident in himself, he inspired confidence in others.
Following World War II, Admiral Nimitz became Chief of Naval Operations
and was instrumental in unifying the armed services under the National Military
Establishment, forerunner of the Department of Defense. Nimitz retired from
active service on Dec. 16, 1947, but in 1949 he was named by the United Nations
to be administrator of a plebiscite designed to settle the dispute between
India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Admiral Nimitz took up residence in California,
first at Berkeley, where he served as a regent of the University of California
(1947-1955) and later at official quarters on Treasure Island in San Francisco
Bay. He died there on Feb. 20, 1966.
Transcript copies of correspondence, orders, reports, speeches
(1943-1948), and press clippings. Speeches also on microfilm. CINCPAC (Comander
in Chief of the Pacific Fleet) reports from Nimitz on operations and battles.
Includes 79 photographs (1885-1957) of Nimitz' career and signed photographs of
Navy ships.