Adm. Nimitz’s WWII diary posted online

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The U.S. Naval War College released a trove of World War II information Monday by posting online the operational diary kept by the Pacific commander, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, during the war against Japan.

The 4,000-page multivolume collection includes a running summary of the situation for every day of the war in the Pacific compiled by Nimitz’s planning staff. It is the only known document of its kind to survive from the war, said Prof. John Hattendorf, who teaches maritime history at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

The Nimitz “Graybook,” named for the gray material in which it is bound, is posted at www.usnwc.edu/graybook. Traffic was so heavy Monday that downloads of the document were inaccessible for several hours. A spokeswoman for the Naval War College said the problem was mostly fixed by Monday afternoon.

The diary begins on Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the line: “The war opened with the attack of Japanese aircraft on Oahu.” It goes on to list the locations of the Navy’s forces throughout the Pacific, the damage sustained that day and what is known about the enemy’s position.

Nimitz’s planning staff prepared a similar summary for him every day of the war.

The entries run through Aug. 31, 1945, as the war in the Pacific came to an end.