Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN (center) (Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas) on board USS San Francisco (CA 38) to visit the two senior ship’s officers who had survived the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-13 November 1942. Photographed at Pearl Harbor, while San Francisco was en route to California for battle damage repairs. On the left is Commander Herbert E. Schonland, USN, who assumed command after the ship’s Captain was killed and led damage control efforts. On the right is Lieutenant Commander Bruce McCandless, USN, the ship’s Communications Officer, who took over the conn and subsequently navigated San Francisco to safety. Both Schonland and McCandless received the Medal of Honor for their actions during and immediately after the battle.Â

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, #80-G-40031 now in the collections of the National Archives.