USS Missouri (BB-63)
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USS ''Missouri'' (BB-63) is an built for the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
(USN) in the 1940s and is currently a
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
. Completed in 1944, she is the last battleship commissioned by the United States. The ship was assigned to the
Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, where she participated in the Battles of
Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...
and
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
and shelled the
Japanese home islands The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...
. Her
quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...
was the site of the
surrender of the Empire of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Jewel Voice Broadcast, announced by Emperor of Japan, Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in A ...
, which ended World War II. She has been called the most historic battleship in the world. After World War II, ''Missouri'' served in various diplomatic,
show of force A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, non ...
and training missions. On 17 January 1950 the ship ran aground during
high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...
in
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
and after great effort was re-floated several weeks later. She later fought in the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
during two tours between 1950 and 1953. ''Missouri'' was the first American battleship to arrive in Korean waters and served as the
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
for several
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
s. The battleship took part in numerous shore bombardment operations and also served in a screening role for
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s. ''Missouri'' was decommissioned in 1955 and transferred to the
reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...
, (also known as the "Mothball Fleet"). ''Missouri'' was reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the
600-ship Navy The 600-ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War. The plan, which originated with Republican leaders, was an important campaign plank of ...
plan.
Cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
and
anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...
launchers were added along with updated electronics. The ship served in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
escorting
oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...
s during threats from Iran, often while keeping her
fire-control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a ...
s trained on land-based Iranian missile launchers. She served in
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
in 1991 including providing fire support. ''Missouri'' was again decommissioned in 1992, but remained on the
Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
until her name was struck in 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS ''Missouri'' Memorial Association and became a museum ship at
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, Hawaii. Her bow faces the USS ''Arizona'' Memorial intending to convey that Missouri watches over the remains of so that those interred within ''Arizona''s hull may rest in peace.


Background and description

The ''Iowa'' class of
fast battleship A fast battleship was a battleship which emphasised speed without – in concept – undue compromise of either armor or armament. Most of the early World War I-era dreadnought battleships were typically built with low design speeds, ...
s was designed in the late 1930s in response to the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
's expectations for a future war with the
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
. The last battleships to be built by the United States, they were also the US Navy's largest and fastest vessels of the type. American officers preferred comparatively slow but heavily armed and armored battleships, but Navy planners determined that such a fleet would have difficulty in bringing the faster Japanese fleet to battle, particularly the s and the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s of the 1st Air Fleet. Design studies prepared during the development of the earlier and es demonstrated the difficulty in resolving the desires of fleet officers with those of the planning staff within the
displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
limits imposed by the
Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...
system, which had governed
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...
construction since 1923. An escalator clause in the
Second London Naval Treaty The Second London Naval Treaty was an international treaty signed as a result of the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference held in London, the United Kingdom. The conference started on 9 December 1935 and the treaty was signed by the parti ...
of 1936 allowed an increase from to in the event that any member nation refused to sign the treaty, which Japan refused to do. ''Missouri'' is
long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
and is long at the
waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
. The ship has a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of at her full combat load of . The ''Iowa''-class ship are powered by four
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
geared
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s, each driving one
screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
using steam provided by eight oil-fired
Babcock & Wilcox boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...
s. Rated at , the turbines were designed to give a top speed of , but were built to handle a 20 percent overload. None of the ''Iowa''s ever ran speed trials in deep water, but the Bureau of Ships estimated that they could reach a speed of about from at a light displacement of . The ships had a designed cruising range of at a speed of , although the 's fuel consumption figures during her sea trials suggest that her range was at least at that cruising speed. Their designed crew numbered 117 officers and 1,804 
enlisted men An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...
which had greatly increased by the end of the war in 1945. ''Missouri''s crew at that time numbered 189 officers and 2,978 sailors.


Armament, fire control, sensors and aircraft

The
main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...
of the ''Iowa''-class ships consisted of nine /50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three triple-
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s on the
centerline Center line, centre line or centerline may refer to: Sports * Center line, marked in red on an ice hockey rink * Centre line (football), a set of positions on an Australian rules football field * Centerline, a line that separates the service cou ...
, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward of the
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
, with the third aft. Going from bow to
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
, the turrets were designated I, II, and III. Their
secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...
consisted of twenty /38 caliber
dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...
s mounted in twin-gun turrets clustered
amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...
, five turrets on each
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
. Unlike their
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s and ''New Jersey'' that were the first pair of ships built, ''Missouri'' and were completed with an anti-aircraft suite of twenty quadruple mounts for Bofors
AA gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
s, nine mounts on each broadside and one each on the roofs of Turrets II and III. Forty-nine Oerlikon light AA auto-cannon in single mounts were distributed almost the length of the ships. The primary means of controlling the main armament are two Mark 38
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
s for the Mark 38 fire-control system mounted at the tops of the fore and aft fire-control towers in the superstructure. These directors were equipped with
rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...
s, although their primary sensor was the
Mark 8 Mark 8 is the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains two miracles of Jesus, Peter's confession that he believes Jesus is the Messiah, and Jesus' first prediction of his own death and resurr ...
fire-control radar A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are sometim ...
mounted on their roofs. A secondary Mark 40 fire-control director was installed inside the armored
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
at the front of the superstructure that used the Mark 27 fire-control radar positioned on the top of the conning tower. Each turret is fitted with a rangefinder long and can act as a director for the other turrets. Four Mark 37 gunnery directors, two on the centerline at the ends of the superstructure and one on each broadside, control the five-inch guns. Each director was equipped with a rangefinder and a pair of radars on its roof. These were a
Mark 12 Mark 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It continues Jesus' teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem, and contains the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, Jesus' argument with the Pharisees ...
fire-control system and a Mark 22 height-finder radar. Each 40 mm mount was remotely controlled by a Mark 51 director that incorporated a Mark 14 lead-computing
gyro gunsight A gyro gunsight (G.G.S.) is a modification of the non-magnifying reflector sight in which target lead (the amount of aim-off in front of a moving target) and bullet drop are calculated automatically. The first examples were developed in Britain ...
while the sailors that used the 20 mm gun used a Mark 14 sight to track their targets. A SK-2
early-warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...
was fitted on the ship's
foremast The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...
; above it was a SG surface-search radar. The other SG radar was mounted at the top of the mainmast positioned on the rear
funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
. The ''Iowa''s were built with two rotating
aircraft catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...
s on their stern for
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
s and a large crane was fitted to recover them. Initially a trio of
Vought OS2U Kingfisher The Vought OS2U Kingfisher is an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest because of its low-powered engine. The OS2U ...
s were carried, but these were replaced by
Curtiss SC Seahawk The Curtiss SC Seahawk was a scout seaplane designed by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the United States Navy. The existing Curtiss SO3C Seamew and Vought OS2U Kingfisher were gradually replaced by the Seahawk in the late stages o ...
s in December 1944.


Protection

The internal waterline
armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating ...
of the ''Iowa''-class ships is thick and has a height of . Below it is a
strake On a vessel's hull, a strake is a longitudinal course of planking or plating which runs from the boat's stempost (at the bows) to the sternpost or transom (at the rear). The garboard strakes are the two immediately adjacent to the keel on ...
of Class B
homogeneous armor Rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) is a type of vehicle armour made of a single steel composition hot-rolled to improve its material characteristics, as opposed to layered or cemented armour. Its first common application was in tanks. After World ...
plate that tapers in thickness from 12.1 inches at the top to at the bottom and is high. The two strakes of armor are inclined outwards at the top 19 degrees to improve the armor's resistance to horizontal fire. In general the vertical armor plates are made from Class A cemented armor and the horizontal armor from Class B or
Special treatment steel Special treatment steel (STS), also known as protective deck plate, was a type of warship armor developed by Carnegie Steel around 1910. History STS is a homogeneous Krupp-type steel developed around 1910. The development of such homogeneous ste ...
(STS). The belt armor extends to the two transverse bulkheads fore and aft of the main-gun
barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...
s, forming the
armored citadel In a warship an armored citadel is an armored box enclosing the machinery and magazine spaces formed by the armored deck, the waterline belt, and the transverse bulkheads. In many post-World War I warships, armor was concentrated in a very s ...
. Part of the lower armor belt extends aft from the rear bulkhead to protect the ships' steering gear. Its maximum thickness ranges from at the top and the plates taper to 5 inches at the bottom. Unlike the ''Iowa'' and ''New Jersey'', the armor plates in the forward transverse bulkhead in ''Missouri'' and ''Wisconsin'' have a maximum thickness of at the top that tapers to . The aft bulkhead is a consistent 14.5 inches in thickness, but does not go below the lower belt extension. The main-gun turrets has Class B plates thick on their faces and of Class A plates on their sides. The armor plates protecting their barbettes range in thickness from to and with the thickest plates on the sides and the thinnest ones on the front and back. The sides of the conning tower are thick. The
main deck The main deck of a ship is the uppermost complete deck extending from bow to stern. A steel ship's hull may be considered a structural beam with the main deck forming the upper flange of a box girder and the keel forming the lower strength me ...
of the ''Iowa''s consists of of STS. Below this deck, the roof of the armored citadel is formed by of armor in two layers. Below this is a deck of STS plates intended to stop splinters from shells that pierced the armored deck above it. The armor deck extends aft and the roof of the steering gear compartment is thick. The underwater protection system of the ''Iowa''-class battleships consists of three
watertight compartment A compartment is a portion of the space within a ship defined vertically between decks and horizontally between bulkheads. It is analogous to a room within a building, and may provide watertight subdivision of the ship's hull important in retaini ...
s outboard of the lower armor belt and another behind it. The two outermost compartment are kept loaded with fuel oil or seawater to absorb the energy of the torpedo
warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Explosiv ...
's detonation and slow the resulting splinters so they can be stopped by the lower armor belt. Behind the belt is a holding bulkhead intended to protect the ships' inner spaces from any splinters that might penetrate and the subsequent flooding. For protection against
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s, the ''Iowa''s have a double bottom that runs the full length of the ships and increases to a triple bottom except at the bow and stern.


History


Construction

''Missouri'' was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the US state of Missouri. The ship was authorized by Congress in 1938 and ordered on 12 June 1940 with the
hull number Hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the HIN is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varies by country and type. United ...
BB-63. The
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
for ''Missouri'' was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...
on 6 January 1941 in
slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...
1. The ship was launched on 29 January 1944 before a crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 spectators. At the launching ceremony, the ship was christened by
Margaret Truman Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (February 17, 1924 – January 29, 2008) was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry S. Truman a ...
, the
ship sponsor A ship sponsor, by tradition, is a female civilian who is invited to "sponsor" a vessel, presumably to bestow good luck and divine protection over the seagoing vessel and all that sail aboard. In the United States Navy and the United States Coast ...
and daughter of
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
, then one of the senators from the ship's namesake state; Truman himself gave a speech at the ceremony.
Fitting-out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
work proceeded quickly, and the ship was commissioned on 11 June;
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
William Callaghan served as her first commander. ''Missouri'' conducted her initial sea trials off New York, beginning on 10 July, and then steamed south to
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
, where she embarked on a
shakedown cruise Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Generally, shakedown cruises are performed before a ship enters service or after major changes such as a crew change, repair or overhaul. The shakedown cruise s ...
and conducted training. During this period, she operated with the new large
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
, which had also recently entered service, and several escorting
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s. The ship got underway on 11 November, bound for the
West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
. She passed through the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
a week later and continued on to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. There, additional fitting-out work was carried out at
Hunters Point Naval Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established ...
to prepare the vessel for use as a fleet
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
.


World War II (1944–1945)

On 14 December, ''Missouri'' departed San Francisco and sailed for
Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...
in the
Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
, where she joined the rest of the fleet on 13 January 1945. She became a temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral
Marc A. Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an Admiral (United States), admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific d ...
. She then joined
Task Force 58 The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task ...
, which
sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...
d on 27 January to launch an air attack on
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in support of the planned operation against
Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...
. ''Missouri'' served as part of the anti-aircraft screen for Task Group 58.2, centered on the carriers , , and , during the raid on Tokyo. In addition to guarding the carriers, ''Missouri'' and the other battleships acted as
oilers Oiler may refer to: Ships * Replenishment oiler * Tanker (ship) Sports * Cape Breton Oilers, a former American Hockey League team * City Oilers, Ugandan basketball team * Edmonton Oilers, a National Hockey League team based in Edmonton, Alberta, ...
for the escorting destroyers, since the fleet's logistics train could not accompany the strike force during raids. By 16 February, the task force had arrived off the coast of Japan to begin a series of
airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
s. The fleet then proceeded to Iwo Jima, which was invaded by American ground forces on 19 February. That evening, while patrolling with the carriers, ''Missouri'' shot down a Japanese aircraft, probably a
Nakajima Ki-49 The Nakajima Ki-49 ''Donryu'' (呑龍, "Storm Dragon")Francillon, 1970, p.223 was a twin-engine Japanese World War II heavy bomber. It was designed to carry out day bombing, daylight bombing missions, without the protection of escort fighters. Con ...
bomber. Task Force 58 departed in early March and returned to Ulithi to replenish fuel and ammunition. ''Missouri'' was transferred to the task group, TG 58.4 at that time. The ships departed again on 14 March for another round of air strikes on Japan. Four days later, ''Missouri''s anti-aircraft guns assisted in the destruction of four Japanese aircraft. American carrier aircraft struck a variety of targets around the
Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...
, which prompted a Japanese counter-attack that struck several carriers. The carrier was badly damaged and ''Missouri''s task group was detached to cover her withdrawal. By 22 March, ''Franklin'' had left the area of operations and the group returned to the fleet to join the preparatory bombardment for the upcoming
invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
. ''Missouri'' was temporarily transferred to TF 59, along with her sisters ''New Jersey'' and ''Wisconsin'', to bombard the southern coast of
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
on 24 March, part of an effort to draw Japanese attention from the actual invasion target on the western side of the island, during which she fired 180 rounds. ''Missouri'' thereafter returned to TG 58.4. While operating with the carriers on 11 April, ''Missouri'' came under attack from a
kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
that struck the side of the vessel below the main deck. The impact shattered the aircraft, throwing gasoline on the deck that rapidly ignited, but it was quickly suppressed by her crew. The attack caused superficial damage and the battleship remained on station. Two crewmen were wounded on 17 April when another kamikaze clipped the stern crane and crashed in the ship's wake. ''Missouri'' left Task Force 58 on 5 May to return to Ulithi; in the course of her operations off Okinawa, she claimed five aircraft shot down and another probable kill, along with partial credit for another six aircraft destroyed. While en route, ''Missouri'' refueled from a fleet oiler that also brought the ship's new commander, Captain Stuart S. Murray, who relieved Captain Callaghan on 14 May. On 9 May, ''Missouri'' reached Ulithi, before continuing on to Apra Harbor,
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, where she arrived nine days later.
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
William F. Halsey Jr., the commander of
Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...
, came aboard the ship that day, making her the fleet flagship of what was now re-designated as TF 38. On 21 May, the battleship got underway again, bound for Okinawa. She had reached the operational area by 27 May, when she took part in attacks on Japanese positions on the island. Together with the rest of the Third Fleet, she then steamed north to conduct a series of air strikes on Japanese airfields and other installations on the island of
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
on 2 and 3 June. The fleet was struck by a major typhoon on the night of 5–6 June, which caused extensive damage to many ships of the fleet, though ''Missouri'' suffered only minor damage. Another round of air strikes against targets on Kyūshū took place on 8 June. The fleet then withdrew to
Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao ...
to replenish fuel and ammunition, arriving there on 13 June. Third Fleet got underway again on 1 July to launch another series of attacks on the Japanese Home Islands. During this period, ''Missouri'' operated with TG 38.4. The carrier aircraft struck targets around Tokyo on 10 July, and then further north between
Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
and
Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...
from 13 to 14 July. The following day, ''Missouri'' and several other vessels were detached to form TG 38.4.2 which was tasked with bombarding industrial facilities in
Muroran, Hokkaido is a city and port located in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Iburi Subprefecture. As of February 29, 2012, the city has an estimated population of 93,716, with 47,868 households and a population density of . The ...
. A second bombardment mission followed on the night of 17–18 July, by which time the British battleship had joined the formation. The battleships then returned to
screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
the carriers during strikes against targets around the Inland Sea and then Tokyo later in the month. After a brief pause, the carriers resumed attacks on northern Japan on 9 August, the same day as the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The following day, rumors circulated that Japan would surrender, which was formally announced on the morning of 15 August.


Signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender

Over the course of the following two weeks, Allied forces made preparations to begin the
occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...
. On 21 August, ''Missouri'' sent a contingent of 200 officers and men to ''Iowa'', which was to debark a landing party in Tokyo to begin the process of demilitarizing Japan. Two days later, Murray was informed that ''Missouri'' would host the surrender ceremony, with the date scheduled for 31 August. The ship's crew immediately began preparations for the event, including cleaning and painting the vessel. ''Missouri'' began the approach to
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...
on 27 August, guided by the Japanese destroyer . That night, the ships stopped at
Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...
, where a courier brought the flag that
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
had flown during his expedition to open Japan in 1853; the flag was to be displayed during the surrender ceremony. The flotilla then entered Tokyo Bay on 29 August, and ''Missouri'' was anchored close to where Perry had anchored his own vessels some ninety-two years earlier. Poor weather delayed the ceremony until 2 September. Fleet Admiral
Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...
boarded shortly after 08:00, and General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
, the Supreme Commander for the Allies, came on board at 08:43. The Japanese representatives, headed by
Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Mamoru Shigemitsu was a Japanese diplomat and politician in the Empire of Japan, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs three times during and after World War II as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Japan. As civilian plenipotentiary representing the J ...
, arrived at 08:56, 2 September 1945. At 09:02, General MacArthur stepped before a battery of
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
s and opened the 23-minute surrender ceremony to the waiting world by stating, "It is my earnest hope—indeed the hope of all mankind—that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice." By 09:30 the Japanese emissaries had departed. In the afternoon of 5 September, Halsey transferred his flag to the battleship , and early the next day ''Missouri'' departed Tokyo Bay. As part of the ongoing
Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships ...
she received homeward-bound passengers at Guam, then sailed unescorted for Hawaii. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 20 September and flew Admiral Nimitz's flag on the afternoon of 28 September for a reception.


Post-war (1946–1950)

The next day, ''Missouri'' departed Pearl Harbor bound for the
East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
. She reached New York City on 23 October and hoisted the flag of Atlantic Fleet commander Admiral Jonas Ingram. Four days later, the battleship fired a
21-gun salute A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...
(the first of 3 that day) as Truman—who had since become President of the United States—boarded for
Navy Day Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. By country Argentina The Argentine Navy day is celebrated on May 17, anniversary of the victory achieved in 1814 in the Battle of Montevideo. Bahrain The R ...
ceremonies. After an overhaul in the
New York Naval Shipyard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...
that included the replacement of the Mark 8 fire-control radars with
Mark 13 Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains Jesus' predictions of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and disaster for Judea, as well as his eschatological discourse.Hall ...
models, and a training cruise to
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, ''Missouri'' returned to New York. During the afternoon of 21 March 1946, she received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States,
Munir Ertegun Munir Ertegun ( Turkish spelling: Münir Ertegün; 1883 – 11 November 1944) was a Turkish legal counsel in international law to the "Sublime Porte" (imperial government) of the late Ottoman Empire and a diplomat of the Republic of Turkey durin ...
. She departed on 22 March for
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, and on 5 April anchored in the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
off
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. She rendered full honors, including the firing of 19-gun salutes during the transfer of the remains of the late ambassador and again during the funeral ashore. ''Missouri'' departed Istanbul on 9 April and entered
Phaleron Bay Phalerum or Phaleron ( ''()'', ; ''()'', ) was a port of Ancient Athens, 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens, on a bay of the Saronic Gulf. The bay is also referred to as "Bay of Phalerum" ( el, Όρμος Φαλήρου '').'' The ...
,
Piraeus, Greece Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
, the following day for a welcome by Greek government officials and
anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
citizens. Greece had become the scene of a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
between the pro-communist-dominated left-wing resistance organization EAM-
ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
and the returning Greek government-in-exile. The United States saw this as an important test case for its new doctrine of
containment Containment was a geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term ''cordon sanitaire'', which was ...
of the Soviet Union. The Soviets were also pushing for concessions in the
Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...
to be included in the peace treaty with Italy and for access through the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
strait between the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
and the Mediterranean. The voyage of ''Missouri'' to the eastern Mediterranean symbolized America's strategic commitment to the region. News media proclaimed her a symbol of US interest in preserving Greece and Turkey's independence. ''Missouri'' departed Piraeus on 26 April, touching at
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
and
Tangiers Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
before arriving at Norfolk on 9 May. She departed for Culebra Island on 12 May to join Admiral Mitscher's 8th Fleet in the Navy's first large-scale postwar Atlantic training maneuvers. The battleship returned to New York City on 27 May, and spent the next year steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the
Davis Strait Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was named for the English explorer Jo ...
and south to the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
on various training exercises. On 3 December, during a gunnery exercise in the North Atlantic, a star shell fired by the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
accidentally struck the battleship, killing one crewman and wounding three others. ''Missouri'' arrived at
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
on 30 August 1947 for the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. President Truman boarded on 2 September to celebrate the signing of the
Rio Treaty The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (commonly known as the Rio Treaty, the Rio Pact, the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, or by the Spanish-language acronym TIAR from ''Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca'') is an agreem ...
, which broadened the
Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile ac ...
by stipulating that an attack on any one of the signatory American countries would be considered an attack on all. The Truman family boarded ''Missouri'' on 7 September 1947 to return to the United States and disembarked at Norfolk on 19 September. Her overhaul in New York, which lasted from 23 September to 10 March 1948 included upgrading most of her radar suite. The SK-2 system was replaced by a
SR-3 radar SR 3 may refer to: * SR-3 Vikhr, a Russian assault rifle * SR-3 Blackstar, the first stage of a reported American covert spaceplane program * Matich SR3, an Australian sports car * Radical SR3, an English sports car * '' Saints Row: The Third'', ...
and both SG fire-control radars were removed, an improved SG-6 replaced the forward antenna and the aft SG was exchanged for a SP height-finding radar; Mark 25 fire-control radars replaced the combination Mark 12/22 installations on the roofs of the Mark 37 directors. After the overhaul, the ship worked up at Guantanamo Bay. The summer of 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training cruises. Also in 1948, ''Missouri'' became the first battleship to host a
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
detachment, operating two Sikorsky HO3S-1 machines for utility and rescue work. The battleship departed Norfolk on 1 November 1948 for a second three-week
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
cold-weather training cruise to the Davis Strait. During the next two years, ''Missouri'' participated in exercises from the
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
coast to the Caribbean, alternated with two midshipman summer training cruises. She was overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 23 September 1949 to 17 January 1950. Throughout the latter half of the 1940s, the various service branches of the United States had been reducing their inventories from their World War II levels. For the Navy, this resulted in several vessels of various types being decommissioned and either sold for scrap or placed in one of the various
United States Navy reserve fleets The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...
scattered along the coasts. As part of this contraction, three of the ''Iowa''-class battleships had been de-activated and decommissioned but President Truman refused to allow ''Missouri'' to be decommissioned. Against the advice of Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, Secretary of the Navy
John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...
, and Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfeld, Truman ordered ''Missouri'' to be maintained with the active fleet partly because of his fondness for the battleship and partly because the battleship had been christened by his daughter Margaret. Captain William D. Brown assumed command of the battleship on 10 December while she was being overhauled. Then the only US battleship in commission, ''Missouri'' was proceeding from
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
on her first training exercise at sea since the overhaul, early on 17 January 1950 when she ran aground from
Thimble Shoal Light Thimble Shoal Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay, north of the Hampton Roads channel. The third light at this location, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History The first light at t ...
, near
Old Point Comfort Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States. It was renamed ...
. She hit shoal water a distance of three ship-lengths from the main channel. The error resulted from a combination of many factors, including Brown's inexperience maneuvering such a large ship. The grounding occurred during a particularly high tide making the effort to free her even more difficult as did having an abandoned
anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
becoming embedded in her hull. After off-loading ammunition, fuel and food to lighten the battleship, she was refloated on 1 February with the aid of
tugboats A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...
, pontoons, beach gear and a rising tide. After the subsequent
Naval Board of Inquiry Naval Board of Inquiry and Naval Court of Inquiry are two types of investigative court proceedings, conducted by the United States Navy in response to an event that adversely affects the performance, or reputation, of the fleet or one of its shi ...
, Brown and three of his officers were
court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
led. Brown was relieved of command and his subordinates were reprimanded. Captain
Harold Page Smith Admiral Harold Page Smith (February 17, 1904 – January 4, 1993) was a United States Navy four-star admiral who served as Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces Europe/Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and M ...
assumed command on 7 February as the ''Missouri''s repairs were being completed. Having repaired morale aboard during his tenure as the ship was relegated to training duties in an effort to cut costs by Johnson, Page Smith was replaced by Captain Irving Duke on 19 April.


Korean War (1950–1953)

In 1950, the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
started, prompting the United States to intervene on behalf of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
. President Truman was caught off guard when the invasion struck, but quickly ordered US forces stationed in Japan into South Korea. Truman also sent US-based troops, tanks, fighter and
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
aircraft, and a strong naval force to Korea to support the Republic of Korea. As part of the naval mobilization ''Missouri'' was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and dispatched from Norfolk on 19 August to support UN forces on the Korean peninsula. Due to the urgency of her mission Duke took the battleship directly through a
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
off the coast of
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
on 20 August that blew her helicopers off the stern and damaged her enough that she required nearly a week's worth of repairs once she reached Pearl Harbor. ''Missouri'' arrived just west of Kyūshū on 14 September, where she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Allan Edward Smith. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok on 15 September in an attempt to divert troops and attention from the Incheon landings. After a brief visit to
Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
, Japan, to resupply, the ship arrived at
Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...
on 19 September, and began bombarding North Korean troops as they retreated north. On 10 October she became flagship of Rear Admiral John M. Higgins, commander of Cruiser Division 5. She arrived at Sasebo on 14 October, where she became flagship of Vice Admiral A. D. Struble, Commander,
Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...
. After screening the carrier along the east coast of
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, she conducted bombardment missions from 12 to 26 October in the
Chongjin Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's third largest city. It is sometimes called the ''City of Iron''. History Prehistory According to archaeological findings near the lower ...
and
Tanchon Tanch'ŏn () is a port city in northeastern South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It has a population of approximately 360,000. Tanch'ŏn borders the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), into which the Namdae River flows. Administrative divisio ...
areas on the west coast, and at
Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
where she again screened carriers eastward of Wonsan. During this time,
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
visited the battleship and gave three performances for the crew. MacArthur's amphibious landings at Incheon had severed the North Korean Army's supply lines; as a result, North Korea's army had begun a lengthy retreat from South Korea into North Korea. This retreat was closely monitored by the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC), out of fear that the UN offensive against Korea would create a US-backed enemy on China's border, and out of concern that the UN offensive in Korea could evolve into a UN war against China. The latter of these two threats had already manifested itself during the Korea War: US
F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
s on patrol in "
MiG Alley "MiG Alley" was the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots during the Korean War to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. It was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots and ...
" frequently crossed into China while pursuing Communist MiGs operating out of Chinese airbases. Moreover, there was talk among the UN commanders, notably MacArthur, about a potential campaign against the People's Republic of China. In an effort to dissuade UN forces from completely overrunning North Korea, the People's Republic of China issued diplomatic warnings that they would use force to protect North Korea, but these warnings were not taken seriously for a number of reasons, among them that China lacked air cover to conduct such an attack. This changed abruptly on 19 October 1950, when the first of an eventual total of soldiers under the command of General
Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (; October 24, 1898November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, who served as China's Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and received several years of primary edu ...
crossed into North Korea, launching a full-scale assault against advancing UN troops. The PRC offensive caught the UN completely by surprise, forcing UN troops to retreat. The ''Missouri'' provided gunfire support during the
Hungnam evacuation The Hungnam evacuation' (), also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of United Nations (UN) forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, North Korea, between 15 and 24 December 1950 during the Korean War. As part ...
in December until the last UN troops, the American 3rd Infantry Division, departed on 24 December. In early 1951 ''Missouri'' alternated carrier escort duty and shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until 19 March. During a visit to
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...
, Japan, Captain George Wright relieved Duke as commanding officer on 2 March. The battleship arrived at Yokosuka on 24 March and departed the port four days later for the United States, having fired 2,895 sixteen-inch rounds and 8,043 five-inch shells during her deployment. Upon her arrival at Norfolk on 27 April the ship became the flagship of Rear Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr., commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. From May to August, she engaged in two
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
training cruises. ''Missouri'' entered
Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...
18 October for an overhaul which lasted until 30 January 1952. Captain
John Sylvester John Sylvester may refer to: * John Sylvester (admiral) (1904–1990), United States Navy admiral * John Sylvester (cricketer) (born 1969), Grenadian cricketer * John N. Sylvester (1909–1993), American politician in the state of Washington * John ...
assumed command of the ship the same day her overhaul began. ''Missouri'' spent the next six months training out of Guantanamo Bay and Norfolk and made a port visit to New York in May where she participated in Navy Day celebrations, hosting nearly 11,000 visitors. She returned to Norfolk on 4 August and entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard to prepare for a second tour in the Korean combat zone. Captain Warner Edsall relieved Sylvester at the beginning of the overhaul. The battleship departed Hampton Roads on 11 September and arrived at Yokosuka on 17 October. Vice Admiral
Joseph J. Clark Admiral Joseph James "Jocko" Clark, USN (November 12, 1893 – July 13, 1971) was an admiral in the United States Navy, who commanded aircraft carriers during World War II. Born and raised in Indian Territory (which later became part of Oklaho ...
, commander of the Seventh Fleet, brought his staff onboard on 19 October. Her primary mission was to provide naval gunfire support, codenamed "Cobra strikes", in the Chaho-Tanchon area, at Chongjin, in the Tanchon-Sonjin area, and at Chaho, Wonsan,
Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's second-largest List of cities in North Korea, city, and the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province. It has an estimated population of 768,551. Located in the southern part of the South Ham ...
, and Hungnam from 25 October through 2 January 1953. One of the ship's helicopters crashed on 21 December while trying to assess the damage from a bombardment; all three men aboard were killed. ''Missouri'' put into Incheon on 5 January and then sailed to Sasebo. General
Mark W. Clark Mark Wayne Clark (May 1, 1896 – April 17, 1984) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the US Army during World War II. During World War I ...
, Commander in Chief, UN Command, and Admiral Sir
Guy Russell Admiral Sir Guy Herbrand Edward Russell, (14 April 1898 – 25 September 1977) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He served as Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War, Second Sea Lord from 1953 to 1955, and Co ...
, the British Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet, visited the battleship on 23 January. In the following weeks, ''Missouri'' resumed "Cobra" missions along the east coast of Korea. As part of these, the ship would enter Wonsan Harbor to bombard targets there. North Korea artillery fruitlessly engaged her there on two occasions, 5 and 10 March, as their shells were fused to burst in the air. In retaliation for the latter incident, ''Missouri''s five-inch guns fired 998 shells at the North Korean positions. The last bombardment mission by ''Missouri'' was against the Kojo area on 25 March; she had fired 2,895 sixteen-inch and 8,043 five-inch shells during the deployment. The following day, Edsall suffered a fatal
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
while conning her through the
anti-submarine net An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. Examples of anti-submarine nets * Lake Macquarie anti-submarine boom * Indicator net * Naval operations in ...
s defending Sasebo Harbor. Captain Robert Brodie assumed command on 4 April. ''Missouri'' was relieved as the Seventh Fleet flagship on 6 April by ''New Jersey'' and departed Yokosuka on 7 April. ''Missouri'' arrived at Norfolk on 4 May; Rear Admiral E. T. Woolridge, commander, Battleships-Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, hoisted his flag aboard her 10 days later. She departed on 8 June on a midshipman training cruise to Brazil, Cuba and Panama and returned to Norfolk on 4 August. Woolridge hauled down his flag in October as he transferred to another ship; Rear Admiral Clark Green, commander of Battleship Division 2 replaced him. The battleship was overhauled in Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 20 November to 2 April 1954 that included replacing her 16-inch guns and exchanging her SP radar for a SPS-8 system that required strengthening the mainmast to handle its weight. The day before the end of the overhaul, Captain Taylor Keith relieved Brodie in command of the ship. As the flagship of Rear Admiral Ruthven Libby, who had relieved Woolridge, ''Missouri'' departed Norfolk on 7 June as the flagship of the midshipman training cruise to
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal,
Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
, France, and Cuba. During this voyage ''Missouri'' was joined by the other three battleships of her class, the only time the four ships sailed together. She returned to Norfolk on 3 August and departed on 23 August to be placed in reserve on the West Coast. The ship hosted 16,900 people at
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
, but more than 20,100 visited in San Francisco. ''Missouri'' arrived in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
on 15 September where she again hosted visitors and subsequently off-loaded her ammunition at the facility in Bangor. The ship was decommissioned on 26 February 1955 at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...
where she was assigned to the
Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...
group of the
Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...
. ''Missouri'' retained her Mark 27 radar until the mid-1950s.


Deactivation

''Missouri'' was moored at the last pier of the reserve fleet berthing. She served as a tourist attraction, logging about 250,000 visitors per year, who came to view the "surrender deck" where a bronze plaque memorialized the spot () in Tokyo Bay where Japan surrendered to the Allies. The accompanying historical display included copies of the surrender documents Nearly thirty years passed before ''Missouri'' returned to active duty.


Reactivation (1984–1990)

Under the
Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
's program to build a
600-ship Navy The 600-ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War. The plan, which originated with Republican leaders, was an important campaign plank of ...
, led by Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman, ''Missouri'' was reactivated and towed by the salvage ship to the Long Beach Naval Yard in the summer of 1984 to undergo modernization in advance of her scheduled recommissioning. In preparation for the move, a skeleton crew of 20 spent three weeks working 12 to 16-hour days preparing the battleship for her tow. Over the next several months, the ship had her obsolete armament removed: 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns, their directors, and four of her ten 5-inch gun mounts. Installed in their place on the superstructure were four Mk 141 quad cell launchers for 16 Harpoon (missile), RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, eight Mk 143 Armored Box Launcher mounts for 32 Tomahawk (missile), BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, and a quartet of 20 mm Phalanx CIWS rotary cannon for defense against enemy
anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...
s and enemy aircraft. She also received upgrades to radar and fire-control systems for her guns and missiles, and improved electronic warfare capabilities. Additions included an AN/SPS-49 early-warning radar and an AN/SPS-67 surface-search radar while the SPS-8 radar and the mainmast were removed. The added missile capacity necessitated additional fire-support systems to launch and guide the ordnance. To fire the Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the ship was equipped with the SWG-1 fire-control system. ''Missouri'' was also outfitted with the AN/SLQ-25 Nixie to be used as a decoy against enemy torpedoes, an AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite electronic-warfare system that can detect, jam, and deceive an opponent's radar and a Mark 36 SRBOC system to fire Chaff (countermeasure), chaff rockets intended to confuse enemy missiles. The ship's crew now consisted of 65 officers and 1,450 enlisted men. During the modernization the ship's bell, which had been removed from the battleship and sent to Jefferson City, Missouri for sesquicentennial celebrations in the state, was formally returned to the battleship in advance of her recommissioning. ''Missouri'' was formally recommissioned in San Francisco on 10 May 1986 with Captain Albert Kaiss in command. "This is a day to celebrate the rebirth of American sea power," Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger told an audience of 10,000 at the recommissioning ceremony, instructing the crew to "listen for the footsteps of those who have gone before you. They speak to you of honor and the importance of duty. They remind you of your own traditions." Margaret Truman gave a short speech especially aimed at the ship's crew, which ended with "now take care of my baby." Her remarks were met with rounds of applause from the crew. Only briefly in command, Kaiss was relieved by Captain James A. Carney on 20 June. Three months later ''Missouri'' departed from her new home port of Naval Station Long Beach, Long Beach for an around-the-world cruise, visiting Pearl Harbor Hawaii; Sydney, Hobart, and Perth, Australia; Diego Garcia; the Suez Canal; Istanbul, Turkey; Naples, Italy; Rota, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and the Panama Canal. ''Missouri'' became the first American battleship to circumnavigation, circumnavigate the globe since Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet" 80 years before—a fleet which included the first battleship named . In 1987, ''Missouri'' was outfitted with 40 mm grenade launchers and 25 mm chain guns and sent to take part in Operation Earnest Will, the escorting of reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
. These smaller-caliber weapons were installed due to the threat of Iranian-manned, Sweden, Swedish-made Boghammar cigarette boats operating in the Persian Gulf at the time. On 25 July, the ship departed on a six-month deployment to the Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea. She spent more than 100 continuous days at sea in a hot, tense environment. As the centerpiece for Battlegroup Echo, ''Missouri'' escorted tanker convoys through the Strait of Hormuz, keeping her fire-control system trained on land-based Iranian Silkworm (missile), Silkworm missile launchers. The ship returned to the United States via Diego Garcia, Australia, and Hawaii in early 1988. Captain John Chernesky relieved Carney on 6 July in Pearl Harbor during the biennial Exercise RIMPAC, Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) exercises that had begun a few weeks earlier. Other highlights during the year included port visits in British Columbia and Washington State. In the early months of 1989, ''Missouri'' was in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for routine maintenance. A few months later she departed for the multi-national Pacific Exercise 89, Pacific Exercise (PacEx) '89, where she and ''New Jersey'' performed a firepower demonstration off Okinawa for the Japanese and some of the other allied ships. Missouri fired 45 rounds of 16-inch and 263 of 5-inch, considerably more than her sister. The highlight of PacEx was a port visit in Pusan, Republic of Korea during which she had some trouble docking in the port's shallow water. At the end of the year, the ship visited ''Mazatlan'', Mexico. In early 1990, ''Missouri'' again took part in the RimPac Exercise and Kaiss returned to relieve Chernesky on 13 June.


Gulf War (January–February 1991)

On 2 August 1990 Iraq, led by President Saddam Hussein, Invasion of Kuwait, invaded Kuwait. In the middle of the month US President George H. W. Bush sent the first of several hundred thousand troops, along with a strong force of naval support, to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf area to support a multinational force in a standoff with Iraq. ''Missouri''s scheduled four-month Western Pacific port-to-port cruise set to begin in September was canceled just a few days before the ship was to leave; after the cruise was completed, the ship was due to begin the process of inactivation. She had been placed on hold in anticipation of being mobilized as forces continued to mass in the Middle East. As part of the preparations for combat, a detachment of AAI RQ-2 Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicles were transferred to the ship to improve her ability to direct her gunfire. ''Missouri'' departed on 13 November 1990 for the troubled waters of the Persian Gulf. She departed Long Beach, with extensive press coverage, and headed for Hawaii and the Philippines for more work-ups en route to the Persian Gulf. Along the way she made stops at U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, Subic Bay and Pattaya, Thailand, before transiting the Strait of Hormuz on 3 January 1991. Before
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
began later that month, ''Missouri'' prepared to launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and provide naval gunfire support as required. The ship fired her first Tomahawk missile at Iraqi targets at 01:40 am on 17 January 1991, followed by 27 additional missiles over the next five days. On 29 January, the frigate escorted ''Missouri'' northward. In her first bombardment action of Desert Storm, she shelled an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border, the first time her 16-inch guns had been fired in combat since March 1953 off Korea. The battleship bombarded beach defenses in occupied Kuwait on the night of 3 February, firing 112 main-gun rounds over the next three days until relieved by ''Wisconsin''. ''Missouri'' then fired another 60 rounds off Khafji on 11–12 February before steaming north to Faylaka Island. After Minesweeper (ship), minesweepers cleared a lane through Iraqi defenses, the ship fired 133 rounds during four shore bombardment missions as part of the amphibious landing feint against the Kuwaiti coast the morning of 23 and 24 February. The heavy pounding attracted Iraqi attention; in response to the battleship's artillery strike, the Iraqis fired two HY-2 Silkworm missiles at the battleship, one of which crashed shortly after launching. The other missile was intercepted by a GWS-30 Sea Dart missile launched from the British destroyer within 90 seconds and crashed into the sea roughly in front of ''Missouri''. Shortly afterwards, the battleship's Pioneer drones located the missile launchers and neutralized them with about fifty 16-inch shells. During the campaign, ''Missouri'' was involved in a friendly fire incident with the frigate . According to the official report, on 25 February, ''Jarrett''s Phalanx CIWS engaged the Chaff (radar countermeasure), chaff fired by ''Missouri'' as a countermeasure against enemy missiles, and stray rounds from the firing struck the battleship, one penetrating through a bulkhead and becoming embedded in an interior passageway of the ship. One sailor aboard ''Missouri'' was struck in the neck by flying debris and suffered minor injuries. During the operation, ''Missouri'' also assisted coalition forces engaged in clearing Iraqi naval mines in the Persian Gulf. By the time the war ended, the ship's crew had destroyed at least 15 naval mines. With combat operations out of range of the battleship's weapons on 26 February, ''Missouri'' had fired a total of 783 sixteen-inch shells and launched 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the campaign, and began patrolling the northern Persian Gulf until sailing for home on 21 March. Following stops at Fremantle and Hobart, Australia, the warship visited Pearl Harbor before arriving home in April. She spent the remainder of the year, hosting visitors in between training missions, the latter including a 7 December "voyage of remembrance" to mark the 50th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. During that ceremony, ''Missouri'' hosted President Bush, the first such presidential visit for the warship since Harry S. Truman's in September 1947.


Museum ship (1998 to present)

The dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the absence of a perceived threat to the United States came Peace dividend, drastic cuts in the defense budget, and the high cost of maintaining and operating battleships as part of the United States Navy's active fleet became uneconomical; as a result, ''Missouri'' was decommissioned on 31 March 1992 at Long Beach. Her last commanding officer, Captain Albert L. Kaiss, wrote in the ship's final Plan of the Day: ''Missouri'' returned to be part of the United States Navy reserve fleet at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, until 12 January 1995, when she was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
. She remained in Bremerton, but was not open to tourists as she had been from 1957 to 1984. In spite of attempts by citizens' groups to keep her in Bremerton and be re-opened as a tourist site, the US Navy wanted to pair a symbol of the end of World War II with one representing (for the United States) its beginning. On 4 May 1998, Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton signed the donation contract that transferred her to the USS ''Missouri'' Memorial Association (MMA) of Honolulu, Hawaii, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. She was towed from Bremerton on 23 May to Astoria, Oregon, where she sat in fresh water at the mouth of the Columbia River to kill and drop the saltwater barnacles and sea grasses that had grown on her Hull (watercraft), hull in Bremerton, then towed across the eastern Pacific, and docked at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor on 22 June, from the USS Arizona Memorial, ''Arizona'' Memorial. Less than a year later, on 29 January 1999, ''Missouri'' was opened as a museum operated by the MMA. Originally, the decision to move ''Missouri'' to Pearl Harbor was met with some resistance. The National Park Service expressed concern that the battleship, whose name has become synonymous with the end of World War II, would overshadow the battleship , whose dramatic explosion and subsequent sinking on 7 December 1941 has since become synonymous with the attack on Pearl Harbor. To help guard against this impression ''Missouri'' was placed well back from and facing the ''Arizona'' Memorial, so that those participating in military ceremonies on ''Missouri''s aft decks would not have sight of the ''Arizona'' Memorial. The decision to have ''Missouri''s bow face the ''Arizona'' Memorial was intended to convey that ''Missouri'' watches over the remains of ''Arizona'' so that those interred within ''Arizona''s hull may rest in peace. ''Missouri'' was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 14 May 1971 for hosting the signing of the instrument of Japanese surrender that ended World War II. She is not eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark because she was extensively modernized in the years following the surrender. On 14 October 2009, ''Missouri'' was moved from her berthing station on Battleship Row to a drydock at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to undergo a three-month overhaul. The work, priced at $18 million, included installing a new anti-corrosion system, repainting the hull, and upgrading the internal mechanisms. Drydock workers reported that the ship was leaking at some points on the starboard side. The repairs were completed the first week of January 2010 and the ship was returned to her berthing station on Battleship Row on 7 January 2010. The ship's grand reopening occurred on 30 January. In 2018 a $3.5 million project was completed to restore and preserve the superstructure. This included the lower navigation bridge on level four which includes the chart house, the captain's at-sea cabin, pilot house and conning tower and the open bridge on level five.


Appearances in popular culture

Cher asked to film her 1989 music video of her song "If I Could Turn Back Time" aboard a US Navy ship and the Navy's Office of information in Washington approved. The Navy intended to have it filmed aboard ''New Jersey'' because ''Missouri'' would be at sea at the planned time. ''Missouri''s information officer told the producer: "We're the most historic battleship in the world. This is where World War II ended. You want to do it on here." Cher changed her schedule so that it could be filmed aboard ''Missouri''. The performance was filmed over the 4th of July weekend. "The production people did a spectacular job of rigging the ship with lights; The battleship became a dramatic stage for the...video." Her performance was racier than expected with her wearing a very revealing costume and straddling one of the 16-inch guns during a part of the performance. The video was mostly well received, especially by the crew, but the Navy received some complaints. Columnist Jack Anderson (columnist), Jack Anderson wrote "If battleships could blush, the USS ''Missouri'' would be bright red". Afterwards, ''Missouri''s captain directed that the song be played when the ship was conducting underway replenishments with other ships. The ship was central to the plot of the 1992 film ''Under Siege'' (many of the on-ship scenes were shot aboard the similar but older battleship ). The ship was also prominently featured in the 2012 sci-fi action film Battleship (film), ''Battleship''. As ''Missouri'' has not moved under her own power since 1992, shots of the ship at sea were obtained with the help of three tugboats.


See also

* List of broadsides of major World War II ships * List of museum ships * United States Navy Memorial#Other Navy memorials, U.S. Navy memorials * U.S. Navy Museum#See also, U.S. Navy museums (and other battleship museums)


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * *


External links


Battleship ''Missouri'' Memorial
museum website

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