Editing Chester W. Nimitz (section)

==Military career==

===Early career===
[[File:USS Decatur (DD-5).jpg|thumb|250px|{{USS|Decatur|DD-5|6}}, 1902]]
Nimitz joined the [[battleship]] {{USS|Ohio|BB-12|2}} at [[San Francisco]], and cruised on her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiser {{USS|Baltimore|C-3|2}}; on 31 January 1907, after the two years at sea as a [[warrant officer]] then required by law, he was commissioned as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]]. Remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on the [[gunboat]] {{USS|Panay|1899|2}}, [[destroyer]] {{USS|Decatur|DD-5|2}}, and cruiser {{USS|Denver|CL-16|2}}.

The destroyer ''Decatur'' [[Ship grounding|ran aground]] on a mud bank in the Philippines on 7 July 1908, while under the command of Ensign Nimitz. The incident was the result of a navigational error. Nimitz had failed to check the harbor's tide tables and tried Batangas' harbor when the water level was low, leaving ''Decatur'' stuck until the tide rose again the next morning, and she was pulled free by a small steamer.<ref name="nimitzBook" /> Following the grounding, a naval board of inquiry was convened to investigate the circumstances. The board found that Nimitz had indeed made an error in judgment, but they did not recommend any punitive measures against him. Instead, he received a letter of reprimand.<ref name="navy-ship-nimitz">{{Cite DANFS |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n5/nimitz.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040316125547/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n5/nimitz.htm |archive-date=2004-03-16  |title=USS ''Nimitz'' (CVA(N)-68)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite DANFS|title=Decatur II (Destroyer No. 5)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/decatur-ii.html}}</ref>

Nimitz returned to the United States on board [[USS Nantucket (IX-18)|USS ''Ranger'']] when that vessel was converted to a [[school ship]], and in January 1909, began instruction in the First Submarine Flotilla. In May of that year, he was given command of the flotilla, with additional duty in command of {{USS|Plunger|SS-2|6}}, later renamed ''A-1''. He was promoted directly from ensign to lieutenant in January 1910.  He commanded {{USS|Snapper|SS-16|6}} (later renamed ''C-5'') when that submarine was commissioned on 2 February 1910, and on 18 November 1910, assumed command of {{USS|Narwhal|SS-17|6}} (later renamed ''D-1'').<ref name="navy-ship-nimitz" />

In the latter command, he had additional duty from 10 October 1911, as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. In November 1911, he was ordered to the [[Boston Navy Yard]], to assist in fitting out {{USS|Skipjack|SS-24|6}} and assumed command of that submarine, which had been renamed ''E-1'', at her commissioning on 14 February 1912. On the [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] [[USS Nevada (BM-8)|''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.<ref name="navy-ship-nimitz" />

After commanding the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla from May 1912 to March 1913, he supervised the building of [[diesel engine]]s for the fleet [[Tanker (ship)|oil tanker]] {{USS|Maumee|AO-2|2}}, under construction at the [[New London Ship and Engine Company]], [[Groton, Connecticut]].<ref>Potter, p. 124.</ref>

===World War I===
In the summer of 1913, Nimitz (who spoke fluent German) studied engines at the [[MAN Energy Solutions|Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Nürnberg]] (M.A.N.)  diesel engine plants in [[Nuremberg]], Germany, and [[Ghent]], Belgium. Returning to the [[New York Navy Yard]], he became [[Executive officer|executive]] and engineer officer of ''Maumee'' at her [[ship commissioning|commissioning]] on 23 October 1916.

After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, Nimitz was chief engineer of ''Maumee'' while the vessel served as a refueling ship for the first squadron of US Navy destroyers to cross the Atlantic, to take part in the war. Under his supervision, ''Maumee'' conducted the first-ever [[underway replenishment|underway refuelings]]. On 10 August 1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral [[Samuel S. Robison]], Commander, Submarine Force, US Atlantic Fleet (<small>[[ComSubLant]]</small>).

On 6 February 1918, Nimitz was appointed chief of staff and was awarded a [[Navy Commendation Medal|Letter of Commendation]] for meritorious service as <small>COMSUBLANT</small>'s chief of staff. 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.

===Interwar Period===
From May 1919 to June 1920, Nimitz served as executive officer of the battleship {{USS|South Carolina|BB-26|2}}. He then commanded the cruiser {{USS|Chicago|CA-14|2}} with additional duty in command of [[Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor|Submarine Division 14]], based at [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii. Nimitz, assisted by four earnest [[Chief petty officer (United States)|Chief Petty Officers]], supervised the construction of [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Submarine Base Pearl Harbor]] on a triangle-shaped, overgrown piece of land at the juncture of Southeast Loch and Quarry Loch, and served as the base's first commanding officer.<ref>Johnston & Hedman, p. 2</ref> During this tour, he also conducted an investigation into the [[USS R-14|R-14 sailing incident]]. 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.<ref>Johnston & Hedman, p. 93-96</ref> Returning to the mainland in the summer of 1922, he studied at the [[Naval War College]], [[Newport, Rhode Island]].[[File:De Steiguer Laning Nimitz.png|left|thumb|Inspection visit to Naval ROTC Unit at [[U.C. Berkeley]] in 1927. ADM [[Louis R. de Steiguer]], Commander in Chief, [[Battle Fleet]]; [[William Wallace Campbell]], President, U.C. Berkeley; RADM [[Harris Laning]], Chief of Staff, Battle Fleet; COL Robert O. Van Horn, Army ROTC Unit; CAPT [[William D. Puleston]], Asst Chief of Staff, Battle Fleet; CAPT Chester Nimitz, Naval ROTC Unit]]In June 1923, he became aide and assistant chief of staff to the Commander, [[Battle Fleet]], and later to the Commander in Chief, [[United States Fleet]]. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=From Our Archive: The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps by Capt. Chester W. Nimitz, USN 1928|url=https://blog.usni.org/posts/2009/03/21/from-our-archive-the-naval-reserve-officers-training-corps-by-by-captain-chester-w-nimitz-u-s-navy|access-date=2021-02-17|website=USNI Blog|language=en-US}}</ref>

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 [[United States Naval Academy|Annapolis]] ring.<ref>Potter, p. 126.</ref>

In June 1929, he took command of Submarine Division 20. In June 1931, he assumed command of the [[destroyer tender]] {{USS|Rigel|AD-13|2}} and the destroyers out of commission at [[San Diego, California]]. In October 1933, he took command of the cruiser {{USS|Augusta|CA-31|2}} and deployed to the [[Far East]], where in December, ''Augusta'' became the [[flagship]] of the [[Asiatic Fleet]]. While in command of the Augusta, his legal aide was [[Chesty Puller]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Marine!: The Life of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, USMC (Ret.) |date=1988 |publisher=Bantam Books |location=New York, N.Y. |isbn=0-553-27182-2}}</ref>

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. In September 1938 he took command of Battleship Division 1, 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. "Tests were planned for the spring of 1939 [June 1939] using elements of the fleet left on the West Coast while the rest of the fleet was in the Caribbean participating in [[Fleet Problem]] XX. Nimitz was scheduled to remain on the West Coast aboard his flagship the Arizona. The aircraft carrier Saratoga, the heavy cruisers {{USS|Chester}} and Vincennes, and the light cruiser Trenton would also be left behind. These ships, with their escorts and at least one oiler, would constitute Task Force 7. Nimitz, as senior officer present, would be in command."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/GSBO-12.html | title=HyperWar: Gray Steel and Black Oil &#91;Chapter 12&#93; }}</ref>

On 15 June 1939, he was appointed chief of the Bureau of Navigation. 

From 1940 to 1941, Nimitz served as president of the Army Navy Country Club, in Arlington, Virginia.

===World War II===
{{See also|United States Navy in World War II|Naval history of World War II}}
[[File:nimitz and miller.jpg|thumb|upright|Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins the [[Navy Cross]] on [[Doris Miller|Doris "Dorie" Miller]] in a ceremony onboard {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}}, Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1942]]
[[File:Admiral Nimitz with officers on Guadalcanal, 30 September 1942 (NH 62413).jpg|thumb|Nimitz with officers at [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]], [[Guadalcanal]], 30 September 1942]]
[[File:Nimitz US 1945.jpg|thumb|The [[surrender of Japan]] aboard {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} in Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945: Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, representing the United States, signs the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|instrument of surrender]].]]

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). Nimitz immediately departed Washington for Hawaii and took command in a ceremony on the top deck of the submarine {{USS|Grayling|SS-209|2}}. He was promoted to the rank of [[Admiral (United States)|admiral]], effective 31 December 1941, upon assuming command. The change of command ceremony would normally have taken place aboard a battleship; however, every battleship in Pearl Harbor had been either sunk or damaged during the attack. 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.<ref>Edwin Hoyt, ''How they won the war in the Pacific: Nimitz and his admirals'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011).</ref>  He had a significant advantage in that the United States had cracked the Japanese diplomatic naval code and had made progress on the [[Japanese naval codes#JN-25|naval code JN-25]]. The Japanese had kept radio silence before the attack on Pearl Harbor, although events were then moving so rapidly they had to rely on coded radio messages they did not realize were being read in Hawaii.<ref>John Winton, ''Ultra in the Pacific: How Breaking Japanese Codes & Cyphers Affected Naval Operations Against Japan 1941-45'' (1993).</ref>

On 24 March 1942, the newly formed US-British [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] issued a directive designating the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]] an area of American strategic responsibility. Six days later, the US [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (JCS) divided the theater into three areas: the [[Pacific Ocean Areas (command)|Pacific Ocean Areas]], the [[South West Pacific Area (command)|Southwest Pacific Area]] (commanded by General [[Douglas MacArthur]]), and the [[Southeast Pacific Area]]. The JCS designated Nimitz as "Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas", with operational control over all [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] units (air, land, and sea) in that area.<ref>{{cite book|title=United States Navy Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: 100th Anniversary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayExVoPZEvMC&pg=PP25|year=2015|publisher=Government Printing Office|pages=25–30|isbn = 9780160927799}}</ref>
 
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. Instead, they proposed an [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|island-hopping plan]] that would allow them to bypass most of the Japanese strength in the Central Pacific until they reached Okinawa. President Roosevelt compromised, giving both MacArthur and Nimitz their own theaters. The two Pacific theaters were favored, to the dismay of generals [[George C. Marshall|George Marshall]] and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]], who favored a Germany-first strategy. King and Nimitz provided MacArthur with some naval forces but kept most of the carriers. However, when the time came to plan an invasion of Japan, MacArthur was given overall command.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas B. Buell|title=Master of Seapower: A Biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6WsKAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT167|year=2013|publisher=Naval Institute Press|pages=166–68|isbn=9781612512105}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bruce S. Jansson|title=The Sixteen-Trillion-Dollar Mistake: How the U.S. Bungled Its National Priorities from the New Deal to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bwJ-u6Z2vdMC&pg=PA49|year=2002|pages=48–49|publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231505260}}</ref>

Nimitz faced superior Japanese forces at the crucial defensive actions of the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] and the [[Battle of Midway]]. 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. Two Japanese carriers were temporarily taken out of action in the battle, which would deprive the Japanese of their use in the Midway operation that shortly followed. The Navy's intelligence team reasoned that the Japanese would be attacking Midway, so Nimitz moved all his available forces to the defense. The severe losses in Japanese carriers at Midway affected the balance of naval air power during the remainder of 1942 and were crucial in neutralizing Japanese offensive threats in the South Pacific. Naval engagements during the [[Battle of Guadalcanal]] left both forces severely depleted. However, with the allied advantage in land-based air-power, the results were sufficient to secure Guadalcanal. The US and allied forces then undertook to neutralize remaining Japanese offensive threats with the [[Solomon Islands campaign]] and the [[New Guinea campaign]], while building capabilities for major fleet actions. In 1943, Midway became a forward submarine base, greatly enhancing US capabilities against Japanese shipping.<ref>Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, ''Miracle at Midway'' (1982).</ref>

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. This drive opened with the [[Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign]] from November 1943 to February 1944, followed by the destruction of the strategic Japanese base at [[Operation Hailstone|Truk Lagoon]], and the Marianas campaign that brought the Japanese homeland within range of new strategic bombers. 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]].<ref>Samuel Eliot Morison,  '' The Two-Ocean War; A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War'' (1963) pp 222-291.</ref> His Fleet Forces isolated enemy-held bastions on the central and eastern [[Caroline Islands]] and secured in quick succession [[Peleliu]], [[Angaur]], and [[Ulithi]]. In the Philippines, his ships destroyed much of the remaining Japanese naval power at the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], that lasted from 24 to 26 October 1944. With the loss of the Philippines, Japan's energy supply routes from Indonesia came under direct threat, crippling their war effort.<ref>Samuel Eliot Morison, ''Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'' (1958)</ref>
[[File:Photograph of President Truman decorating Admiral Chester Nimitz with a Gold Star (in lieu of a third Distinguished... - NARA - 199222.jpg|thumb|President [[Harry Truman]] decorating Admiral Nimitz with a [[5/16 inch star|Gold Star]] on 5 October 1945]]
[[File:Photograph of troops marching past mock-up of battleship at ceremonies honoring Admiral Chester Nimitz. - NARA - 199216.jpg|thumb|Troops marching at ceremonies honoring Nimitz]]
By act of Congress, passed on 14 December 1944, the rank of [[Fleet admiral (United States)|fleet admiral]] – the highest rank in the Navy – was established. The next day President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Nimitz to that rank. Nimitz took the oath of that office on 19 December 1944.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Alexander Hughes|title=Admiral Bill Halsey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUq6CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA401|year=2016|publisher=Harvard UP|page=401|isbn=9780674049635}}</ref> In January 1945, Nimitz moved the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet forward from Pearl Harbor to Guam for the remainder of the war. Nimitz's wife remained in the continental United States for the duration of the war and did not join her husband in Hawaii or Guam.   In 1945, Nimitz's forces launched successful amphibious assaults on [[Iwo Jima]] and [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and his carriers raided the home waters of Japan. In addition, Nimitz also arranged for the Army Air Force to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air with [[B-29 Superfortress]]es in a successful mission called [[Operation Starvation]], which severely interrupted Japanese logistics.<ref>Megan  Tzeng,  "The Battle of Okinawa, 1945: Final turning point in the Pacific". ''History Teacher'' (2000): 95-117. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3054378 Online]</ref><ref>Morison,  '' The Two-Ocean War'' pp 434-81.</ref>
[[File:Photograph of Admiral Chester Nimitz seated in the back of a limousine, driving by a vast crowd, with the Washington... - NARA - 199211.jpg|thumb|Nimitz in Washington, D.C. in 1945]]
On 2 September 1945, Nimitz signed as representative of the United States when [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Japan formally surrendered]] on board {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} in [[Tokyo Bay]]. On 5 October 1945, which had been officially designated as "Nimitz Day" in [[Washington, D.C.]], Nimitz was personally presented a second [[5/16 inch star|Gold Star]] for the third award of the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]] by President [[Harry S. Truman]] "for exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, from June 1944 to August 1945".<ref>James C. Bradford,  "Nimitz, Admiral Chester (1885–1966)". in Gordon Martel, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of War'' (2011).</ref>

===Post war===
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. King]]. He had assured the President that he was willing to serve as the CNO for one two-year term, but no longer. He tackled the difficult task of reducing the most powerful navy in the world to a fraction of its war-time strength while establishing and overseeing active and reserve fleets with the strength and readiness required to support national policy.

For the postwar trial of German Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in 1946, Nimitz furnished an [[affidavit]] in support of the practice of [[unrestricted submarine warfare]], a practice that he himself had employed throughout the war in the Pacific. This evidence is widely credited as a reason why Dönitz was sentenced to only 10 years of imprisonment.<ref name="NTrials">[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/juddoeni.asp Judgement: Dönitz] the [[Avalon Project]] at the [[Yale Law School]].</ref>

Nimitz [[Hyman G. Rickover#Naval Reactors and the Atomic Energy Commission|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|SSN-571|6}}, the world's first nuclear-powered vessel.<ref>{{citation |author=Wallace, Robert |title=A Deluge of Honors for an Exasperating Admiral |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVMEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Accordingly+Rickover+bypassed+several+echelons%22&pg=PA109 |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |issn=0024-3019 |date=September 8, 1958 |page=109 |volume=45|issue=10 }}</ref> As is noted at a display at the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas: "Nimitz's greatest legacy as CNO is arguably his support of Admiral Hyman Rickover's effort to convert the submarine fleet from diesel to nuclear propulsion".

===Inactive duty as a fleet admiral===
[[File:RetirementParty Nimitz and Vandegriff - with President Truman, SECNAV Sullivan and their Wives.jpg|thumb|Secretary of Navy John L. Sullivan's farewell party for Fleet Admiral USN (CNO) and General A.A. Vandegrift, USMC (CMC), on their retirement (December 1947)]]
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. However, since the rank of fleet admiral is a lifetime appointment, he remained on active duty for the rest of his life, with full pay and benefits. He and his wife, Catherine, moved to [[Berkeley, California]]. After he suffered a serious fall in 1964, he and Catherine moved to US Naval quarters on [[Yerba Buena Island]] in the [[San Francisco Bay]].

In San Francisco, Nimitz served in the mostly ceremonial post as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in the Western Sea Frontier. He worked to help restore goodwill with Japan after World War II by helping to raise funds for the restoration of the Japanese Imperial Navy battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Mikasa||2}}, Admiral [[Heihachiro Togo]]'s flagship at the [[Battle of Tsushima]] in 1905.

From 1949 to 1953, Nimitz served as UN-appointed plebiscite administrator for [[UN mediation of Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Admiral Nimitz Resigns U.N. Position as Plebiscite Administrator for Kashmir |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19530904&id=bulOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3701,1190572 |date=September 4, 1953 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |agency=Reuters |access-date=July 27, 2016}}</ref> His proposed role as administrator was accepted by Pakistan but rejected by India.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fai |first=Ghulam Nabi |title=Kashmir and the United Nations |url=https://www.k-state.edu/psa/Kashmir_UN_lec.pdf |date=December 4, 2003 |pages=2–4 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110104913/https://www.k-state.edu/psa/Kashmir_UN_lec.pdf |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Panigrahi |first=D. N. |title=Jammu and Kashmir, the Cold War and the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOLfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 |date=2012 |page=97 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-113-6-51752-5|access-date=July 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Korbel |first=Josef |author-link=Josef Korbel |title=Danger in Kashmir |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=second |year=1966 |orig-year=first published 1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Q7WCgAAQBAJ |pages=155–156|isbn=9781400875238 }}</ref>

Nimitz became a member of the [[Bohemian Club]] of San Francisco. In 1948, he sponsored a Bohemian dinner in honor of US Army General [[Mark Wayne Clark|Mark Clark]], known for his campaigns in North Africa and Italy.<ref>Navy Department Library. [http://www.history.navy.mil/library/manuscript/nimitz.htm "Documents relating to Admiral Nimitz's naval career"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721060218/http://www.history.navy.mil/library/manuscript/nimitz.htm |date=July 21, 2009 }}. Retrieved on July 10, 2009.</ref>

Nimitz served from 1948 to 1956 as a regent of the [[University of California]], where he had formerly been a faculty member as a professor of naval science for the [[Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps]] program. Nimitz was honored on 17 October 1964, by the University of California on Nimitz Day.