He also, beginning in 1917, was the Navy's leading developer of underway replenishment techniques, the tool which during the Pacific war would allow the US fleet to operate away from port almost indefinitely.

[5] He was significantly influenced by his German-born paternal grandfather, Charles Henry Nimitz, a former seaman in the German Merchant Marine, who taught him, "the sea – like life itself – is a stern taskmaster.

James L. Slayden, US Representative for Texas's 12th congressional district, told him that he had one appointment available for the United States Naval Academy and that he would award it to the best-qualified candidate.

In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiser Baltimore; on 31 January 1907, after the two years at sea as a warrant officer then required by law, he was commissioned as an ensign.

[10][11] Nimitz returned to the United States on board USS Ranger when that vessel was converted to a school ship, and in January 1909, began instruction in the First Submarine Flotilla.

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 the monitor Tonopah (then employed as a submarine tender) on 20 March 1912, he rescued Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action.

On 16 September, he reported to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and on October 25 was given additional duty as senior member, Board of Submarine Design.

His handling of the disciplinary action in the aftermath of the investigation was considered a model of even-handed fairness, cementing his reputation as a solid and capable leader.

In August 1926, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he established one of the first Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps units and successfully advocated for the program's expansion.

[14] Nimitz lost part of a finger in an accident with a diesel engine, saving the rest of it only when the machine briefly jammed against his Annapolis ring.

[16] In April 1935, Nimitz returned home for three years as assistant chief of the Bureau of Navigation, before becoming commander, Cruiser Division 2, Battle Force.

During this time, Nimitz conducted experiments in the underway refueling of large ships which would prove a key element in the Navy's success in the war to come.

Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Rear Admiral Nimitz was selected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be the commander-in-chief of the United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT).

Assuming command at the most critical period of the war in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz organized his forces to halt the Japanese advance, despite the shortage of ships, planes, and supplies.

[19] On 24 March 1942, the newly formed US-British Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility.

[20] Nimitz, in Hawaii, and his superior Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations, in Washington, rejected the plan of General Douglas MacArthur to advance on Japan through New Guinea and the Philippines and Formosa.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, while a loss in terms of total damage suffered, has been described as resulting in the strategic success of turning back an apparent Japanese invasion of Port Moresby on the island of New Guinea.

[23] In terms of combat, 1943 was a relatively quiet year, but it proved decisive inasmuch as Nimitz gained the materiel and manpower needed to launch major fleet offensives to destroy Japanese power in the central Pacific region.

Nimitz's forces inflicted a decisive defeat on the Japanese fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June 1944), which allowed the capture of Saipan, Guam, and Tinian.

[24] His Fleet Forces isolated enemy-held bastions on the central and eastern Caroline Islands and secured in quick succession Peleliu, Angaur, and Ulithi.

In 1945, Nimitz's forces launched successful amphibious assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and his carriers raided the home waters of Japan.

[27][28] On 2 September 1945, Nimitz signed as representative of the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

[29] On 26 November 1945, Nimitz's nomination as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) was confirmed by the US Senate, and on December 15, 1945, he relieved Fleet Admiral Ernest J.

[30] Nimitz endorsed an entirely new course for the US Navy's future by way of supporting then-Captain Hyman G. Rickover's chain-of-command-circumventing proposal in 1947 to build USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered vessel.

Nimitz retired from office as CNO on 15 December 1947, and received a third Gold Star in lieu of a fourth Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

He died at home on the evening of 20 February at Quarters One on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay, four days before his 81st birthday.

[49] His funeral on 24 February – what would have been his 81st birthday – was at the chapel of adjacent Naval Station Treasure Island, and Nimitz was buried with full military honors at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.