Admiral Chester Nimitz signed Japan’s surrender instrument for the United States Navy after General Douglas MacArthur. He was the second Allied signatory, signing on USS Missouri on 2 September 1945.
Nimitz served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas during the war. His forces directed major campaigns across the central Pacific, including the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea. At the ceremony, he represented the naval forces that had fought Japan across the Pacific.
MacArthur signed first for the Allied powers, followed by Nimitz and representatives of other Allied nations. Nimitz’s signature appears near the top of the document, and the original instrument is preserved by the U.S. National Archives.