Description:

Nimitz Chester

Black and white photo print 10" x 8", with an additional 1.75" off-white border. Framed to a completed size of 14.5" x 11.5". Signed by Nimitz as "CW Nimitz / US Representative", and includes the additionally signed inscription of "To Lt. Comdr Davis A Hill, (DC) - with best wishes and warm regards. C.W. Nimitz Fleet Admiral", along the bottom margin. Near fine photo with slight fading to the ink, in a simple rubbed black wood frame.

The black and white photo depicts the memorable ceremony for the signing of the Japanese surrender which occurred aboard the deck of the Missouri, lasted 23 minutes and was broadcast throughout the world. The instrument was first signed by the Japanese foreign minister Shigemitsu, "By Command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" (9:04 am). General Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, then signed the document "By Command and on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters" (9:06 am). General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers and signed in his capacity as Supreme Commander, followed by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States at 9:12. Admiral Chester Nimitz signs next to his photo "CW Nimitz / US Representative", and additional inscribes and signs the photo along the bottom margin as "To Lt. Comdr Davis A Hill, (DC) - with best wishes and warm regards. C.W. Nimitz Fleet Admiral".

Chester Nimitz's long outstanding career included not only his later years as a significant force behind WWII, and Pearl Harbor, but also as the leading U.S. Navy authority on submarines. Qualified in submarines during his early years, he later oversaw the conversion of these vessels' propulsion from gasoline to diesel, and then later was key in acquiring approval to build the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, whose propulsion system later completely superseded diesel-powered submarines in the U.S. He also, beginning in 1917, was the Navy's leading developer of underway replenishment techniques, the tool which during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. The chief of the Navy's Bureau Of Navigation in 1939, Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States' last surviving officer who served in the rank of fleet admiral.

Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was promoted by Roosevelt to commander-in-chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT), with the rank of admiral, effective December 31. He immediately departed Washington for Hawaii and took command in a ceremony on the top deck of the submarine Grayling. The change of command ceremony would normally have taken place aboard a battleship, but 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 successfully organized his forces to halt the Japanese advance despite the losses from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the shortage of ships, planes, and supplies.

On March 24, 1942, the newly formed US-British Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. As rapidly as ships, men, and materiel became available, Nimitz shifted to the offensive and fought the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea – a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, but a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons – in the pivotal Battle of Midway, and in the Solomon Islands campaign. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from re-attempting to invade from the ocean. The Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability and in the final phases in the war in the Pacific, Nimitz's forces attacked the Mariana Islands, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Japanese fleet culminating his long-range strategy by successful amphibious assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In addition, Nimitz also ordered the US Army Air Forces to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air with B-29 Super Fortresses in a successful mission called Operation Starvation, which severely interrupted the Japanese logistics.

By Act of Congress, passed on December 14, 1944, the grade of Fleet Admiral — the highest grade in the Navy — was established and the next day President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Admiral Nimitz to that rank. Nimitz took the oath of that office on December 19, 1944.

Nimitz's has left numerous gracious and memorable quotes which are still used today:

"Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

"God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless."

A fantastic twice signed iconic photo in highly collectible condition.

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