Table Of ContentR
B.POTTER
NIMITZ
The importance of this work and the man it concerns
is perhaps best described in the book's opening sentence:
"In World War II, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
commanded thousands of ships and aircraft and millions of
men, amounting to more military power than had been
wielded by all the commanders in all previous wars."
Although it was during World War II that Admiral
Nimitz gained national prominence, this biography fully
covers his childhood in Texas, his experience as a midship-
man at the U.S. Naval Academy, his life as husband and
father, his early career in the Navy from ensign to flag rank,
and his postwar appointments as Chief of Naval Operations
and representative of the United Nations. Both the text and
illustrations depict the admiral in conference and personal
discussion with such prominent naval personalities as Ad-
mirals William F. Halsey, Ernest King, Raymond Spru-
J.
ance. Husband Kimmel, and Thomas Kinkaid. The pages
also reflect Nimitz's meetings and correspondence with such
men as General Douglas MacArthur, Navy Secretary James
Forrestal, and Presidents Roosevelt and Truman.
Because his parents were poor, young Chester had little
prospect of pursuing his education beyond high school, but
his prospects were changed by a chance encounter with two
fresh-caught graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. In-
spired by what he saw, Chester applied to his congressman
for an appointment to West Point. Informed that all ap-
pointments to the Military Academy had been filled, he
accepted one to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, al-
though he had never so much as heard of the institution or
the town.
In 1905 he graduated seventh in his class and was ready
to embark upon one of the most illustrious naval careers in
history. Just two years later his career was endangered when
Ensign Nimitz, after assuming command of the destroyer
Decatur, ran her aground on a mudbank. In the investiga-
tion that followed, the young officer stood a court-martial
and wasconvicted.
In subsequent years he built the submarine base at Pearl
Harbor, founded one of the first Naval Reserve Officers'
Training Corps units, commanded the flagship of the Asi-
atic Fleet, and was appointed commander of Battleship Di-
vision One. At the outbreak of World War II, he was Chief
of the Bureau of Navigation. Following the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt and Secretary of the
Navy Frank Knox chose Nimitz to be Commander in
Chief, PacificFleet.
Civic Center
Bio NIMIT2, C
Potter, E. B. (Elmer
Belmont), 1908-
Nimitz
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POTTER
E. B.
NIMITZ
NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
©
Copyright 1976
by E. B. Potter
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced
without written permission from the publisher.
Library ofCongress Catalogue Card No. 76-1056
ISBN 0-87021-492-6
@
Printed in the United States ofAmerica on acid-free paper
The author is grateful for permission to quote from the following publications: George
Allen 6c Unwin, Ltd., for Nice to Have You Aboard by Captain Harold Hopkins, RN;
Harold Obcr Associates Incorporated for Admiral Halsey's Story (published by McGraw-
©
HWiilllliBaomokF.CHoamlpscayn,y,copIynrc.i)ghtby©Wi1l9l4i7ambyF.theHaClusrctyisanPudblJi.sBhirnyganCoIImIp,acnoyp;yriRgahntdom1H9o47usbey,
Inc., for The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 7936-/9^5, by
©
John Toland, copyright 1970 by John Toland; Hawthorne Books for General Kenney
Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War by George C. Kenney, copyright © 1949
by George C. Kenney; Little, Brown and Company for The Quiet Warrior by Thomas B.
©
Bucll, copyright 1974 by Thomas B. Bucll; U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July 1966;
W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., for Fleet A©dmiral King: A Naval Record by Ernest J.
King and Walter Muir Whitchill, copyright 1952 by Ernest J. King; Once a Marine:
The Memoirs of General A. A. Vandegrift, United States Marine Corps, by A. A. Vandc-
©
grift and Robert B. Asprey, copyright 1964 by A. A. Vandegrift and R. B. Asprcy;
Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department by Dean Achcson, copyright ©
1969 by Dean Acheson.
The author also thanks Samuel Eliot Morison for permission to use material from
TheRisingSun in the Pacific (published by Little, Brown and Company, copyright © 1948
by Samuel Eliot Morison) in the preparation of the map on page 38 in this book.
Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are official U.S. Navy.
15 14 13
To Grace, Katherine,andLorraine
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... r.
CONTENTS
Preface a:/
I. The Appointment /
2, CinCPac from Texas 16
3- Holding the Line j/
4- Backgroundofa Strategist 48
5- Confrontation in the Coral Sea 6j
6. Preparing to Defend Midway j8
7- The BattleofMidway 9/
8. Chester and Catherine 108
9- Rising Star 122
10. Tactician andTeacher /_J5
II. TheRigel and the Augusta 1^0
12. Flag Rank 162
Guadalcanal Invaded /jj
14. Guadalcanal Recaptured jg8
15- CinCPacand CinCPac Staff 221
16. Launching the Central Pacific Drive 2^^
17- Galvanic and Flintlock 2^y
18. Leap to the Marianas 2yg
19. Of Generals, Admirals, and a President 2^8
20. Return to the Philippines j2/
21. The Philippines Campaign and the Move to Guam S46
22. IwoJima and Okinawa 558
23- Victory ^y8
24. From CinCPac to CNO ^gg
25. Chiefof Naval Operations 412
26. From theNavy Department to the UnitedNations 431
27. Last Years ^55
Acknowledgments
^y^
Sources 474
Chapter Notes 482
Index 4gi
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