Which U.S. admiral signed Japan’s surrender for the United States after Douglas MacArthur?

Chester W. Nimitz signed Japan’s surrender for the United States after Douglas MacArthur.

Nimitz was the U.S. Fleet Admiral and commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet during much of the Pacific War. At the September 2, 1945, ceremony, General Douglas MacArthur first signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Nimitz then signed as the United States representative.

The Allied representatives followed an agreed order. After Nimitz, representatives signed for China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. This sequence reflected the Allied coalition that had fought Japan.

Nimitz’s role is sometimes confused with that of Admiral William Halsey Jr., who commanded the U.S. Third Fleet during the final operations near Japan. Halsey was present in the wider naval force but was not the American signatory. Nimitz’s signature represented the United States in the formal legal ceremony.