Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, GCB, USN (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966), was a five-star admiral of the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.[2] He was the leading U.S. Navy authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Navigation in 1939. He served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States' last surviving Fleet Admiral.
"the sea - like life itself - is a stern taskmaster. The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best and don't worry - especially about things over which you have no control." Date | 4–7 June 1942 | Location | Midway Atoll
28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.2°N 177.35°W / 28.2; -177.35Coordinates: Click the blue globe to open an interactive map. 28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.2°N 177.35°W / 28.2; -177.35 | Result | Decisive American victory | | Belligerents | United States | Empire of Japan | Commanders and leaders | Chester W. Nimitz
Frank Jack Fletcher
Raymond A. Spruance | Isoroku Yamamoto
Nobutake Kondō
Chūichi Nagumo
Tamon Yamaguchi †
Ryusaku Yanagimoto † | Strength | 3 carriers
~25 support ships
233 carrier-based aircraft
127 land-based aircraft
Total: 28 ships | 4 carriers
2 battleships
~15 support ships
248 carrier-based aircraft[1]
16 floatplanes

Did not participate in battle:
2 light carriers
5 battleships
~41 support ships
116 other ships (including auxiliary and transport vessels)
Total: 185 ships | Casualties and losses | 1 carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
~150 aircraft destroyed
307 killed[2] | 4 carriers sunk
1 cruiser sunk
248 carrier aircraft destroyed[3]
3,057 killed[4] |

For Enterprise, the Battle of Midway began in May 1942, with a crucial bit of deception in the South Pacific. In early May, Task Force 16 - centered around Enterprise and Hornet CV-8 - had raced southwest, in an attempt to join Lexington CV-2 and Yorktown CV-5 (under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) and deflect the expected Japanese move on Port Moresby, near the southeast tip of New