Chester W. Nimitz signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the United States in 1945.
Nimitz was a Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy and had served as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Ocean Areas during the Pacific War. His signature followed that of General Douglas MacArthur, who signed as Supreme Allied Commander and accepted the surrender for the Allied powers.
The ceremony took place aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Nimitz signed at 9:12 a.m., after the Japanese representatives and MacArthur had signed. Representatives of several other Allied nations then added their signatures, creating the formal record of Japan's capitulation.
Nimitz is sometimes confused with MacArthur because both were among the most prominent American commanders in the Pacific. Their roles at the ceremony were different: MacArthur represented the Allied command, while Nimitz specifically represented the United States. The distinction matters because the document recorded each authority separately.