Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz

(1885—1966)

Chester Nimitz, an American of German descent, was born in Fredericksburg Texas in 1885 and is one of the most storied admirals in American history. His grandfather’s hotel in Fredericksburg is now the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site.

Before he completed high school, Nimitz was accepted to the United States Navy Academy in 1901 at age 15. He graduated seventh in a class of 114 on January 30, 1905. After serving on the staff of the commander of submarines in the Atlantic Ocean during World War I, Nimitz always considered submarines his first love. Among his varied duties between the wars, Nimitz commanded several ships including the battleship South Carolina and the cruisers Augusta and Chicago. He also developed an expertise in submarine warfare. During the 1930s in Washington, DC, he served as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Navigation and in 1939 became the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. From there, President Roosevelt chose Nimitz to relieve Admiral Kimmel after the Navy's devastating defeat at Pearl Harbor, and his experience with submarines was a critical reason Roosevelt so chose Nimitz. In December 1944, Nimitz was promoted to five-star fleet admiral.

Image Courtesy of Steve Wright

On September 2, 1945—aboard the USS Missouri—Fleet Admiral Nimitz was United States representative and signatory to the Japanese surrender documents while General Douglas MacArthur signed for the United Nations. On Cecemberr 15, 1945, Nimizt began a two-year term as Chief of Naval Operations. After that position, he and his wife, Catherine, bought a house at 728 Santa Barbara Road, Berkeley, California, a location with a splendid view overlooking San Francisco Bay.

During this time, Nimitz became interested in the history of Sir Francis Drake and identifying the location of Drake’s California sojourn. He became involved with the Drake Navigators Guild at the invitation of his good friend, Captain Adolph S. Oko. Nimitz brought much superlative nautical knowledge and experience to the effort and participated in the archaeological digs at the Point Reyes region. He also frequently visited with DNG members. It was while receiving fellow member Captain Daniel Dillon and his son Peter, Nimitz learned of Pete’s high school history assignment to deliver a report about the Battle of Midway and unexpectedly loaned Pete his personal, annotated map of the battle to use for his report. To the stunned surprise of his teacher, Pete did just that. As his health declined, Nimitiz lived out his years in quarters number one, Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco, CA.

In the March-April 1958 issue of Pacific Discovery, Nimitz authored “Drake’s Cove: A Navigational Approach to Identification" and stated:

In summary, the course charted by the Drake Navigators Guild has led to the only site that fully meets all the requirements indicated by the documentary accounts of the voyage.

In addition to bringing his academic background and maritimve expertise to the Guild, Admiral Nimitz was the Guild Honorary Chairman and spokesman for the group. He died on February 20, 1966 and is buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery next to his friends Admiral Raymond Spruance and Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood.