Admiral Chester Nimitz, an American naval officer, commanded the Pacific Fleet during World War II. Despite the lack of confidence in his qualifications from his superiors, from June 4-7, 1942, through his leader ship and strategic planning, he played a major role in the winning of the Battle of Midway; the turning point of the Pacific War, which would lead to the eventual defeat of Japan.
Chester Nimitz was born February 24, 1885, in Fredricksburg, Texas. Nimitz’s father died before he was born and just before he turned six his mother married her brother-in-law. At the age of eight he had begun working and going to school; his Principal at Tivy High School said that they, “couldn’t keep him busy, he was that fast and he was looking around …show more content…
Afterwards, Nimitz was sent to Germany to learn the manufacturing and installation of diesel engines to be used in submarines. In late summer he was assigned to the Machinery Division at the New York Navy Yard; to oversee the manufacturing and installation of two 2,600-horsepoer diesel engines on the Maumee, an oiler (commercial tanker). At the end of 1916, Nimitz was promoted to Lieutenant, with the role of chief engineer and executive officer on the Maumee; two years later he was promoted to commander and served as chief of staff to the commander of the Atlantic Fleet submarine force. In February 1917, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare and two months later the United States declared war on Germany after it sunk American merchant ships. After serving six months in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations as a member of the Board of Submarine Design, Nimitz was assigned to command Submarine Division 14 at Pearl Harbor, in 1920. Pearl Harbor did not have a submarine base and had to have one constructed. During the construction a submarine skipper, Stuart Murray, was having trouble parking his R boat alongside another submarine. At 186 feet long it was difficult to pull alongside another submarine; either the noses would back or the tails would bump bending the propellers. Murray had bumped tails, bending the propeller, and had to report the damage to