Chester W. Nimitz signed Japan’s surrender instrument as the American representative after MacArthur.
Fleet Admiral Nimitz represented the United States at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri. General Douglas MacArthur signed first for the Allied powers as Supreme Commander, and Nimitz then signed for the United States. Nimitz’s role reflected his leadership of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas during the war.
Nimitz had directed major American naval operations across the Pacific, including the campaigns that shifted the strategic balance against Japan. He was one of the five officers to hold the five-star fleet admiral rank created during World War II. The other Allied representatives signed after him in a prescribed order. The ceremony included delegates from China, Britain, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, making the document an international act rather than a bilateral American-Japanese agreement.