Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz signed Japan’s 1945 surrender instrument for the United States immediately after Douglas MacArthur.
MacArthur signed first on behalf of the Allied powers in his role as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Nimitz then signed as the United States representative at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri.
Nimitz was Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas during the war. His signature reflected the United States’ central naval and military role in the Pacific campaign, while MacArthur’s signature represented the broader Allied command.
Representatives of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand signed after Nimitz. Their participation made the document an Allied surrender instrument rather than a bilateral agreement between Japan and the United States.