![]() ![]() ![]() Speaking at the college after World War II, Fleet Admiral Nimitz reflected on the value of his training there: “The war with Japan had been reenacted in the game room here by so many people in so many different ways that nothing that happened during the war was a surprise-absolutely nothing except the Kamikaze tactics toward the end of the war we had not visualized those.” Fleet and as a student at the Naval War College. Post-World War I assignments included a tour as Senior Member, Board of Submarine Design in the Navy Department as executive officer of USS South Carolina command of USS Chicago on the staff of Commander in Chief, U.S. World War I, he was Chief of Staff to Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Duty in the USS Maumee, the first diesel powered surface ship in the U.S. Nimitz was with the young submarine service until 1913 when he was sent to Germany and Belgium to study diesel engines. Naval Academy in 1905, he was on the China Stationįor two years where, as an ensign, he had his first command, the gunboat USS Panay. Transition to a peacetime posture had been the main problem when Fleet Admiral Nimitz assumed office Cold War operations and preparedness for possible conflict were in the forefront when he left.Ĭhester William Nimitz was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, on February 24, 1885. Prophetically, he reported, “the Navy of the future will be capable of launching missiles from surface vessels and submarines, and of delivering atomic bombs from carrier-based planes.” As his two-year term drew to a close late in 1947, the first post-World War II Chief of Naval Operations could take satisfaction that the Navy had weathered the hazards of demobilization and reorganization. The Chief of Naval Operations also directed attention to the potential of guided missiles as seagoing weapon systems and to nuclear energy for ship propulsion. Emphasis was placed on antisubmarine warfare and, in January 1946, a Coordinator of Undersea Warfare was established in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations with responsibilities for both submarines and antisubmarine warfare. To prepare to meet future threats, the Navy stressed research and development. In the midst of overriding demobilization pressures and extensive operational commitments overseas, Fleet Admiral Nimitz remained acutely aware that the efficiency of the postwar Navy hinged on the continued development and use of technological innovations generated by the war. The deployment of naval forces to crisis points in the Mediterranean and elsewhere was a major influence in stemming Communist advances. The Navy effectively met the new challenges of the Cold War. In response to the campaign to merge the military services within a single executive department and under a single Chief of Staff, his leadership played a key role in achieving a reasonable compromise, one in which naval aviation and the Marine Corps remained under the Department of the Navy. Nimitz was persuasive in his efforts to retain balanced naval forces. ![]() With the destruction of the German and Japanese navies and the advent of the atomic bomb, the continuance of a major U.S. Programs were initiated for the establishment and maintenance of active and reserve fleets with the potential strength and readiness required to support national policy.įleet Admiral Nimitz faced a new set of challenges to American naval power. Fleet Admiral Nimitz provided the administration necessary to achieve this huge rollback in an orderly fashion without destroying the Navy’s effectiveness. The task of reducing the most powerful Navy in history to a fraction of its wartime peak entailed drastic cutbacks in ships, personnel, and the shore establishment surplus property disposal and cancellations of construction contracts. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and other troops were lifted to their homelands, as the Navy conducted operations in the disarmament and the transfer of control and occupation of territories previously held by the enemies. In the Pacific, naval vessels engaged in “Operation Magic Carpet” brought home more than two million American servicemembers over a period of six months. He was faced with the perplexing problem of maintaining an effective fleet to carry out extensive operational commitments throughout the world. When Admiral Nimitz took over as Chief of Naval Operations, rapid demobilization was the order of the day. Accorded a hero’s welcome at home, the quiet, self-effacing officer described himself as merely “a representative of the brave men who fought” under his command. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, hauled down his flag at Pearl Harbor and relieved Fleet Admiral King as Chief of Naval Operations. After brilliantly leading American forces to victory in World War II, Fleet Admiral Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, U.S. ![]()
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