Post by tankcommander on Feb 24, 2014 14:03:55 GMT -8
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Naval War College Library in Newport, R.I. will publicly unveil online the 4,000-page "Graybook" collection of Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz communications that started in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack and ran right up until the closing days of the war. The event will be held Monday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The event, held on the anniversary of Nimitz' 129th birthday, will be streamed live on the Navy Live Blog (http://navylive.dodlive.mil). It will feature a lecture discussing the Graybook as well as a question & answer session with U.S. Naval Academy Professor of History Emeritus Craig L. Symonds, PhD, author of numerous books including "The Battle of Midway," in which he recounts the pivotal role played by Nimitz in what was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
"There's perhaps no greater champion of freedom in the history of the United States Navy than Chester Nimitz and his leadership of the Pacific Fleet during World War II," said Naval War College President Rear Adm. Walter E. "Ted" Carter, Jr.
The WWII historic treasure, named for the color of its original cover, is a daily record of the combat situation in the Pacific Theater and responses of the Commander in Chief, Pacific, and Pacific Ocean Areas (Nimitz) throughout the War. Staff-member Capt. James Steele began it on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and ended it on Aug. 31, 1945, just two days before the formal end of the war.
"I've seen the collection and it's really a national treasure," said Capt. Henry Hendrix, Ph.D., director of the Naval History and Heritage Command. "They clearly reveal what Nimitz thought was important, which gives the reader a great deal of insight into how his experiences both operationally and at the Naval War College informed and influenced his prosecution of the war. I'm extremely pleased we can now share it with researchers, the American public, and Sailors past and present. I'm eager to see the collection discussed and to demonstrate the continued relevance of leveraging history in the decision making process."
Nimitz was assigned to relieve Adm. Husband Kimmel, and arrived in Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day, 1941. Nearly three years later, he was advanced to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral - five stars. Less than a year later, Sept. 2, 1945, he signed the instrument of the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) in Tokyo Bay.
"You're getting the whole picture, from the South Pacific to the Aleutians, and picking up on the progress of the war," said Robert Cressman, a historian at NHHC.
Including records from individual ships, readers can see how each piece fit into the larger whole - while the war was raging around them. The physical collection consists of 4,030 single-sided pages filling 28 bankers boxes held at the Operational Archives at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The size and complexity of the document reflects the magnitude of the job Nimitz undertook commanding the Pacific fleet controlling the expanse of the Pacific Theater, which now comprises more than 100 million square miles and more than half the Earth's surface.
It is "the most authoritative source on the Pacific War available anywhere," said Naval War College Historian Douglas Smith. "Making the document public allows for a better understanding and context of the unique value and consequence of the U.S. Navy, and Nimitz's approach in directing the Pacific campaign."
www.usnwc.edu/About/News/February/See-it-Live--Famed-Nimitz--WWII--Diary--to-be-Unve.aspx
Should be an interesting read for any student of military history...... But at over 4,000 pages, it will probably take as long to read as it did to fight the war.
The event, held on the anniversary of Nimitz' 129th birthday, will be streamed live on the Navy Live Blog (http://navylive.dodlive.mil). It will feature a lecture discussing the Graybook as well as a question & answer session with U.S. Naval Academy Professor of History Emeritus Craig L. Symonds, PhD, author of numerous books including "The Battle of Midway," in which he recounts the pivotal role played by Nimitz in what was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
"There's perhaps no greater champion of freedom in the history of the United States Navy than Chester Nimitz and his leadership of the Pacific Fleet during World War II," said Naval War College President Rear Adm. Walter E. "Ted" Carter, Jr.
The WWII historic treasure, named for the color of its original cover, is a daily record of the combat situation in the Pacific Theater and responses of the Commander in Chief, Pacific, and Pacific Ocean Areas (Nimitz) throughout the War. Staff-member Capt. James Steele began it on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and ended it on Aug. 31, 1945, just two days before the formal end of the war.
"I've seen the collection and it's really a national treasure," said Capt. Henry Hendrix, Ph.D., director of the Naval History and Heritage Command. "They clearly reveal what Nimitz thought was important, which gives the reader a great deal of insight into how his experiences both operationally and at the Naval War College informed and influenced his prosecution of the war. I'm extremely pleased we can now share it with researchers, the American public, and Sailors past and present. I'm eager to see the collection discussed and to demonstrate the continued relevance of leveraging history in the decision making process."
Nimitz was assigned to relieve Adm. Husband Kimmel, and arrived in Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day, 1941. Nearly three years later, he was advanced to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral - five stars. Less than a year later, Sept. 2, 1945, he signed the instrument of the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) in Tokyo Bay.
"You're getting the whole picture, from the South Pacific to the Aleutians, and picking up on the progress of the war," said Robert Cressman, a historian at NHHC.
Including records from individual ships, readers can see how each piece fit into the larger whole - while the war was raging around them. The physical collection consists of 4,030 single-sided pages filling 28 bankers boxes held at the Operational Archives at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The size and complexity of the document reflects the magnitude of the job Nimitz undertook commanding the Pacific fleet controlling the expanse of the Pacific Theater, which now comprises more than 100 million square miles and more than half the Earth's surface.
It is "the most authoritative source on the Pacific War available anywhere," said Naval War College Historian Douglas Smith. "Making the document public allows for a better understanding and context of the unique value and consequence of the U.S. Navy, and Nimitz's approach in directing the Pacific campaign."
www.usnwc.edu/About/News/February/See-it-Live--Famed-Nimitz--WWII--Diary--to-be-Unve.aspx
Should be an interesting read for any student of military history...... But at over 4,000 pages, it will probably take as long to read as it did to fight the war.
