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550 Pages·1976·77.155 MB·English
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R 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 31111024651398 ihs DATE DUE DEMCO,INC.38-2931 - -fl ,. .% 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 •i. -' *l ... 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 ^1 •^^• w

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