In 1907, a young Navy ensign Chester Nimitz was court-martialed after the ship he was commanding, the USS Decatur, ran aground.
It was an inauspicious and unlikely start to what would eventually become a stellar career.
Nimitz was born in 1885 in a small hotel in Fredericksburg, Texas, that his grandfather built. He left high school to join the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated seventh in a class of 114.
After a two-year stint in the Far East, which ended with his court-martial, Nimitz was assigned to the Navy's submarine service, where his growing expertise helped to repair his career. He was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal for rescuing a fellow Navy man who had fallen off his ship.
Over the next 20 years, his career continued to rise with commands of the USS South Carolina, USS Rigel and USS Augusta, and numerous posts including chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
In December 1941, Nimitz was designated commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, responsible for more than 2 million men and women, 5,000 ships and 20,000 planes.
Under his command during World War II, U.S. forces took Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and
Okinawa as they advanced toward Japan. His most triumphant moment came with the Battle of Midway, which ended with the decimation of Japan's carrier force.
Nimitz was promoted to fleet admiral in 1944. On Sept. 2, 1945, he signed Japan's document of surrender on behalf of the U.S. Two months later, he relinquished his command at Pearl Harbor and was sworn in as chief of naval operations.
Nimitz later became a goodwill ambassador with the United Nations and helped to raise funds for the restoration of the Japanese ship Mikasa.
Nimitz died in 1966, four days before his 81st birthday.
