Question

How did Admiral Chester Nimitz affect the Allied victory in the Pacific?

Answer 1

Through his use of "island hopping", Admiral Nimitz shortened the war in the Pacific by years.

Explanation:

During WW2, the Axis power operating in the Pacific was the Japanese. As they expanded their empire across the Pacific, they took over every island and fortified it. It was literally a fortress composed of islands. And up until the attack on the Americans at Pearl Harbour, they expanded without any interference.

After Pearl Harbour, the US entered the war. They drafted men, started building ships, planes, and equipment, and sent them... to fight Germany. America was faced with fighting on 2 fronts: the Germans and Italians in Europe and Africa, and the Japanese in the Pacific. So which to focus on first? Because the Allied powers of France (fallen to Germany), Great Britain (struggling to hold on), and Russia (also struggling to hold on) were in deep trouble, America decided to focus their efforts there first.

Japan too had a choice: continue expanding into islands in the Pacific, or focus fighting in China and Asia. They chose Asia.

So the war in the Pacific really didn't amount to much for a long time - the Japanese controlled a large number of islands and were protected by Japanese battleships. The Americans didn't have the battleship fleet anymore, and so didn't really do much. The Japanese never seriously tried to invade the US - they did take over an Aleutian Island or two (but given that they are tiny and some of them are closer to Japan than to Alaska, it's no surprise).

As the US rebuilt it's fleet, the focus of the fleet quickly became aircraft carriers (they were a new concept in WW2) and submarines (which targeted Japanese supply shipping) and using them Nimitz was able to beat back Japanese battleships, giving the Americans the ability to start attacking islands.

This is where Admiral Nimitz's plan worked miracles - instead of retaking every single island in the Pacific, he instead developed the idea of "island hopping", where each island secured would be used as a stepping stone to eventually invading Japan. it saved time and saved lives.