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USS Missouri (BB-63), 1944-1998,
Selected Views
USS Missouri, a 45,000 ton Iowa class battleship built by the
New York Navy Yard, was commissioned on 11 June 1944. She spent the remainder of
that year preparing for combat, transiting to the Pacific in November. Arriving
in the war zone in January 1945, Missouri supported the Iwo Jima
invasion, the Ryukyus campaign and raids on Japan's home islands during the
following months. In May, she became Third Fleet flagship and was the site of
the 2 September 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony that ended World War II.
Following the end of hostilities, Missouri returned to the United
States, participating in a great naval review at New York in October 1945. In
March 1946, she went to the Mediterranean on a diplomatic mission. Through the
rest of the 1940s and into 1950, the battleship operated extensively in the
Atlantic area. She was the centerpiece of a major grounding incident off Hampton
Roads, Virginia, in January 1950 but was quickly repaired and returned to
service.
Missouri was the only U.S. battleship on active duty in June 1950,
when the Korean War began, and made two combat deployments to the Western
Pacific. Following that action, and several training cruises to Europe, she
decommissioned in February 1955. For the next three decades, she was in reserve
at Bremerton, Washington, and became an important tourist attraction.
All four Iowa class battleships were reactivated in the 1980s, with
Missouri recommissioning in May 1986. Her next six years were busy ones,
including, among other activities, a cruise around the World and a combat role
in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. She decommissioned for the last time in March
1992. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995, Missouri was
transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in June 1998 to become a memorial.
Source: Department of the Navy--Naval Historical
Center
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