USS Missouri
Career USN Jack
Ordered: 12 June 1940
Laid down: 6 January 1941
Launched: 29 January 1944
Commissioned: 11 June 1944
Decommissioned (Final): 31 March 1992
Fate: Memorial
General Characteristics
Displacement: 45,000 t empty
58,000 t full
Length: 887 ft 3 in (270.43 m)
Beam: 108 ft 2 in (32.98 m)
Draft: 38 ft (11.6 m)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement: 1,851
Armament:
1943 9 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns
20 5 in (125 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns
80 40 mm, 56 cal. Anti-Aircraft guns
49 20 mm, 70 cal. Anti-Aircraft guns
1950 9 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns
20 5 in (125 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns
1986 9 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns
12 5 in (125 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns
32 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles
16 RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-Ship missiles
4 20 mm, 76 cal. CIWS
Radars:
  • AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar
  • AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar
Fire control:
  • 4 × Mk 37 Gun Fire Control
  • 2 × Mk 38 Gun Director
  • 1 × Mk 40 Gun Director
EW:
Other:
Armor:

The third USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a U.S. Navy battleship, notable as the final battleship to be built by the United States, the second-to-last in the world after HMS Vanguard, and the site of the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II.

She was one of the Iowa-class "fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Missouri was ordered on 12 June 1940 and her keel was laid at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York on 6 January 1941. She was launched on 29 January 1944 and commissioned on 11 June. The ship was the fourth of the Iowa class and the final battleship commissioned by the Navy. The ship was christened at her launching by Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry S. Truman, then a senator from Missouri.

During World War II, Missouri saw action at the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa, and shelled the Japanese home islands of Hokkaido and Honshū. In the 1950s, Missouri fought in the Korean War and was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets. She was recommissioned in the 1980s, and refitted with modern armaments. In 1991, she participated in the Gulf War.

Missouri was decommissioned a final time on 31 March 1992, having received a total of eleven battle stars, and is presently a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.

Contents

History[edit]

World War II (1944-1945)[edit]

Shakedown and Service with Task Force 58, Admiral Mitscher[edit]

After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in Chesapeake Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk 11 November 1944, transited the Panama Canal 18 November and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as fleet flagship. She stood out of San Francisco Bay 14 December and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Christmas Eve 1944. She departed Hawaii on 2 January 1945 and arrived in Ulithi, West Caroline Islands, 13 January 1945. There she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. The battleship put to sea 27 January to serve in the screen of the Lexington carrier task group of Mitscher's TF 58, and on 16 February her aircraft carriers launched the first air strikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid, which had been launched from carrier Hornet in April 1942.

Missouri then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her main guns provided direct and continuous support to the invasion landings begun 19 February. After TF 58 returned to Ulithi 5 March, Missouri was assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group. On 14 March Missouri departed Ulithi in the screen of the fast carriers and steamed to the Japanese mainland. During strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan beginning 18 March, Missouri shot down four Japanese aircraft.

Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshu continued. During a Japanese attack, two bombs penetrated the hangar deck and decks aft of carrier Franklin, leaving her dead in the water within 50 miles (80 km) of the Japanese mainland. The cruiser Pittsburgh took Franklin in tow until she gained speed to 14 knots (26 km/h). Missouri’s carrier task group provided cover for Franklin’s retirement toward Ulithi until 22 March, then set course for pre-invasion strikes and bombardment of Okinawa.

Missouri joined the fast battleships of TF 58 in bombarding the southeast coast of Okinawa 24 March 1945, an action intended to draw enemy strength from the west coast beaches that would be the actual site of invasion landings. Missouri rejoined the screen of the carriers as Marine and Army units stormed the shores of Okinawa on the morning of 1 April. Planes from the carriers shattered a special Japanese attacking force led by battleship Yamato 7 April. Yamato, the world's largest battleship, was sunk, as were a cruiser and a destroyer. Three other enemy destroyers were heavily damaged and scuttled. Four remaining destroyers, sole survivors of the attacking fleet, were damaged and retired to Sasebo.

On 11 April Missouri opened fire on a low-flying kamikaze plane which penetrated the curtain of her shells and crashed on the starboard side just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 inch (127 mm) Gun Mount No. 3; yet the battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control. The remains of the pilot's body was recovered on board the ship just aft of one of the 40mm gun tubs. Captain William Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job, to the best of his ability and with honor and that he deserved a military funeral. Not all of the crew agreed with that decision, after all the pilot was still their enemy and had tried to kill them, but the Captain's orders were respected and the following day the pilot was buried at sea with military honors.

About 23:05 on 17 April 1945, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles (19 km) from her formation. Her report set off a hunter-killer operation by the light carrier Bataan and four destroyers, which sank Japanese submarine I-56.

Missouri was detached from the carrier task force off Okinawa 5 May and sailed for Ulithi. During the Okinawa campaign she had shot down five enemy planes, assisted in the destruction of six others, and scored one probable kill. She helped repel 12 daylight attacks of enemy raiders and fought off four night attacks on her carrier task group. Her shore bombardment destroyed several gun emplacements and many other military, governmental, and industrial structures.

A Japanese Zero about to hit the Missouri

Service with the 3rd Fleet, Admiral Halsey[edit]

Missouri arrived Ulithi 9 May 1945 and thence proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam, 18 May. That afternoon Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander 3d Fleet, broke his flag in Missouri. She passed out of the harbor 21 May, and by 27 May was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on Okinawa. Missouri now led the mighty 3rd Fleet in strikes on airfields and installations on Kyushu 2 and 3 June. She rode out a fierce storm 5 and 6 June that wrenched off the bow of the cruiser Pittsburgh. Some topside fittings were smashed, but Missouri suffered no major damage. Her fleet again struck Kyushu 8 June, then hit hard in a coordinated air-surface bombardment before retiring towards Leyte. She arrived San Pedro, Leyte, 13 June 1945, after almost three months of continuous operations in support of the Okinawa campaign.

Here she prepared to lead the 3rd Fleet in strikes at the heart of Japan from within its home waters. The mighty fleet set a northerly course 8 July to approach the Japanese mainland. Raids took Tokyo by surprise 10 July, followed by more devastation at the juncture of Honshu and Hokkaido 13 and 14 July. For the first time a naval gunfire force wrought destruction on a major installation within the home islands, when Missouri closed the shore to join in a bombardment 15 July that rained destruction on the Nihon Steel Co. and the Wanishi Ironworks at Muroran, Hokkaido.

During the night of 17 to 18 July Missouri bombarded industrial targets in the Hichiti area, Honshu. Inland Sea aerial strikes continued through 25 July 1945, and Missouri guarded the carriers as they struck hard blows at the Japanese capital. As July ended the Japanese no longer had any home waters. Missouri had led her fleet to gain control of the air and sea approaches to the very shores of Japan.

Strikes on Hokkaido and northern Honshu resumed 9 August 1945, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped. Next day, at 20:54, Missouri's men were electrified by the unofficial news that Japan was ready to surrender, provided that the Emperor's prerogatives as a sovereign ruler were not compromised. Not until 07:45, 15 August, was word received that President Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender.

Signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender[edit]

File:MissouriSurrender.jpg
Japanese and American delegates, in the company of Allied commanders, watch the surrender ceremony unfold aboard Missouri on 2 September1945. The unconditional surrender of the Japanese to the Allies officially ended the Second World War.
Plaque on the USS Missouri

Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser of the Royal Navy, the Commander of the British Pacific Fleet, boarded Missouri 16 August, and conferred the order Knight of the British Empire upon Admiral Halsey. Missouri transferred a landing party of 200 officers and men to the battleship Iowa for temporary duty with the initial occupation force for Tokyo 21 August. Missouri herself entered Tokyo Bay early 29 August to prepare for the signing by Japan of the official instrument of surrender. High-ranking military officials of all the Allied Powers were received on board 2 September. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz boarded shortly after 08:00, and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allies, came on board at 08:43. The Japanese representatives, headed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 08:56. At 09:02 General MacArthur stepped before a battery of microphones and the 23 minute surrender ceremony was broadcast to the waiting world. During this ceremony the deck of the Missouri was decorated with just two American flags. One had hung over the White House on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the other had flown on the mast of Commodore Perry's ship when he had sailed into that same bay nearly a century earlier to urge the opening of Japan's ports to foreign trade. By 09:30 the Japanese emissaries had departed. The afternoon of 5 September Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to the battleship South Dakota, and early the next day Missouri departed Tokyo Bay. She received homeward bound passengers at Guam, then sailed unescorted for Hawaii. She arrived Pearl Harbor 20 September and flew Admiral Nimitz's flag on the afternoon of 28 September for a reception.

Post-war (1946 to 1950)[edit]

File:Missouri panama canal.JPG
Missouri moves through the Panama Canal en route to the United States in October 1945.

The next day, Missouri departed Pearl Harbor bound for the eastern seaboard of the United States. She reached New York City 23 October 1945 and broke the flag of U.S. Atlantic Fleet commander Admiral Jonas Ingram. Four days later, Missouri boomed out a 21-gun salute as President Truman boarded for Navy Day ceremonies.

After an overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard and a training cruise to Cuba, Missouri returned to New York. The afternoon of 21 March 1946, she received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Mehmet Munir Ertegun. She departed 22 March for Gibraltar and 5 April anchored in the Bosphorus off Istanbul. 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 9 April and entered Phaleron Bay, Piraeus, Greece the following day for an overwhelming welcome by Greek government officials and citizens. She had arrived in a year when there were ominous Russian overtures and activities in the entire Balkan area. Greece had become the scene of a Communist-inspired civil war, as Russia sought every possible extension of Soviet influence throughout the Mediterranean region. Demands were made that Turkey grant the Soviets a base of seapower in the Dodecanese Islands and joint control of the Turkish Straits leading from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean.

The voyage of Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean comforted Greece and Turkey. News media proclaimed her a symbol of U.S. interest in preserving both nations' independence.

Missouri departed Piraeus 26 April, touching at Algiers and Tangiers before arriving Norfolk 9 May. She departed for Culebra Island 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 27 May, and spent the next year steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the Davis Strait and south to the Caribbean on various Atlantic command training exercises.

Missouri arrived in Rio de Janeiro 30 August 1947 for the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. President Truman boarded 2 September to celebrate the signing of the Rio Treaty, which broadened the Monroe Doctrine by stipulating that an attack on one of the signatory American states would be considered an attack on all.

Missouri was accidentally grounded early on the morning of 17 January 1950.

The Truman family boarded Missouri 7 September 1947 to return to the United States and debarked at Norfolk 19 September. Her overhaul in New York—which lasted from 23 September to 10 March 1948—was followed by refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. The summer of 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training cruises. The battleship departed Norfolk 1 November for a second 3 week Arctic cold-weather training cruise to the Davis Strait. During the next two years, Missouri participated in Atlantic command exercises from the New England 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.

Now the only U.S. battleship in commission, Missouri was proceeding seaward on a training mission from Hampton Roads early on 17 January when she ran aground 1.6 miles (3 km) from Thimble Shoals Light, near Old Point Comfort. She hit shoal water a distance of three ship lengths from the main channel. Lifted some seven feet above waterline, she stuck hard and fast. With the aid of tugs, pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was refloated on 1 February 1950. The ship was eventually repaired, but the Navy had other plans for the dreadnought. Like most vessels in the post-WWII fleet, the Missouri was seen as a liability more than an asset, so the Navy began to prepare her for decommissioning. At the last second, President Truman learned of the Navy's decision. Truman—a Missouri native and formerly a senator from the state—issued an executive order stating that as long as he remained the President of the United States the battleship Missouri would remain an active part of the fleet. Ironically, this order worked in the Navy's favor.

The Korean War (1950 to 1955)[edit]

In 1950, the North Korean government invaded South Korea. The United States intervened in the name of the United Nations, and sent troops, tanks, and a strong naval force to Korea to support the Republic of Korea. As part of the naval mobilization Missouri was called up from the Atlantic fleet and dispatched from Norfolk on 19 August to support U.N. forces on the Korean peninsula.

Missouri joined the U.N. just west of Kyushu on 14 September, where she became the flagship of Rear Admiral A. E. Smith. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok on 15 September 1950 in an attempt to divert troops and attention from the Inchon landings. This was the first time since WWII that Missouri had fired her guns in anger, and in company with the cruiser Helena and two destroyers, she helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.

Missouri arrived at Inchon 19 September, and on 10 October became flagship of Rear Admiral J. M. Higgins, commander, Cruiser Division 5. She arrived Sasebo 14 October, where she became flagship of Vice Admiral A. D. Struble, Commander, 7th Fleet. After screening the aircraft carrier Valley Forge along the east coast of Korea, she conducted bombardment missions from 12 to 26 October in the Chonjin and Tanchon areas, and at Wonsan where she again screened carriers eastward of Wonsan.

On 15 September 1950, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur launched his famous amphibious invasion of Korea during the battle of Inchon. This broke North Korean supply lines, resulting in a North Korean retreat to the north with U.N. forces in hot pursuit. Up till now, the U.N. forces had only engaged North Korean units, but there was talk among the commanders of the U.N. forces (notably General MacArthur) about invading China. A communist nation itself, China had been closely monitoring the North Korean retreat as it gradually approached the Korea/China border. The Chinese had already issued several warnings announcing their intentions to defend their country, and when it became obvious that North Korean forces could not beat the U.N. forces China took action. On 19 October 1950 some 380,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers under the command of General Peng Dehuai crossed into North Korea and launched a full scale assault against advancing U.N. troops. Caught by surprise, the U.N. forces realized they would have to fall back, and quickly executed an emergency retreat. U.N. assets were shuffled in order to cover this retreat, and as part of the force tasked with covering the U.N. retreat Missouri was moved into Hungnam 23 December to provide gunfire support about the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops, the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, were evacuated by way of the sea on 24 December 1950.

File:Mossouri North Korea Deployment.JPG
Missouri fires her guns against enemy positions during the Korean War

Missouri conducted additional operations with carriers and shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until 19 March 1951. She arrived Yokosuka 24 March, and 4 days later was relieved of duty in the Far East. She departed Yokosuka 28 March, and upon arrival at Norfolk on 27 April became the flagship of Rear Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr., commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. During the summer of 1951, she engaged in two midshipman training cruises to northern Europe. Missouri entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard 18 October for an overhaul, which lasted until 30 January 1952.

Following winter and spring training out of Guantanamo Bay, Missouri visited New York, then set course from Norfolk 9 June for another midshipman cruise. She returned to Norfolk 4 August and entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard to prepare for a second tour in the Korean combat zone.

Missouri stood out of Hampton Roads on 11 September 1952 and arrived Yokosuka 17 October. She broke the flag of Vice Admiral Joseph J. Clark, commander of the 7th Fleet, on 19 October. Her primary mission was to provide seagoing artillery support by bombarding enemy targets in the Chaho-Tanchon area, at Chongjin, in the Tanchon-Sonjin area, and at Chaho, Wonsan, Hamhung, and Hungnam during the period 25 October through 2 January 1953.

Missouri put in to Inchon 5 January 1953 and sailed thence to Sasebo, Japan. General Mark W. Clark, Commander in Chief, U.N. Command, and Admiral Sir Guy Russell, the Royal Navy commander of the British Far East Station, visited the battleship 23 January. In the following weeks, Missouri resumed "Cobra" patrol along the east coast of Korea to support troops ashore. Repeated strikes against Wonsan, Tanehon, Hungnam, and Kojo destroyed main supply routes along the eastern seaboard. The last gunstrike mission by Missouri was against the Kojo area 25 March. She sustained a grievous casualty 6 March 1953, when her commanding officer Captain Warner R. Edsall suffered a fatal heart attack while conning her through the submarine net at Sasebo. She was relieved as the 7th Fleet flagship 6 April by her older sister New Jersey.

Missouri departed Yokosuka 7 April 1953 and arrived Norfolk 4 May to become flagship for Rear Admiral E. T. Woolridge, commander, Battleships-Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, 14 May. She departed 8 June on a midshipman training cruise, returned to Norfolk 4 August, and was overhauled in Norfolk Naval Shipyard 20 November to 2 April 1954. Now the flagship of Rear Admiral R. E. Kirby, who had relieved Admiral Woolridge, Missouri departed Norfolk 7 June as flagship of the midshipman training cruise to Lisbon and Cherbourg. She returned Norfolk 3 August and departed the 23rd for inactivation on the West Coast. After calls at Long Beach and San Francisco, Missouri arrived in Seattle 15 September 1954. Three days later she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she decommissioned 26 February 1955, entering the Bremerton group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.

Upon arrival in Bremerton, Missouri was moored at the last pier of the reserve fleet berthing. This placed her very close to the mainland, and she served as a popular tourist attraction, logging about 180,000 visitors per year, who came to view the "surrender deck" where a bronze plaque memorialized the spot where Japan surrendered to the Allies, and the accompanying historical display that included copies of the surrender documents and photos. A small cottage industry grew in the civilian community just outside the gates, selling souvenirs and other memorabilia. Nearly thirty years would pass before Missouri would again return to active duty.

Recommissioning (1985 to 1990)[edit]

As part of Navy Secretary John F. Lehman's effort to build a 600-ship Navy, Missouri was reactivated in 1984 and recommissioned in San Francisco on 10 May 1986. Like her Iowa-class sisters, Missouri was refitted with the latest weaponry available, including the Armored Box Launcher (ABL) system that enabled her to launch 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles and 16 Harpoon missiles. She was also equipped with four Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS) guns to shoot down enemy anti-ship missiles and aircraft. "This is a day to celebrate the rebirth of American sea power," Secretary of Defense Casper W. 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."[1]

Four months later, the nation's most accomplished battleship departed her new homeport of Long Beach for an around-the-world cruise, bringing the message of "Strength for Freedom" to eight nations: Australia, Diego Garcia, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Panama. Missouri became the first battleship to circumnavigate the globe since Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet" 80 years before—a fleet which included USS Missouri (BB-11), the first battleship of that name.

In 1987, Missouri was given additional smaller-caliber weapons and sent to take part in Operation Earnest Will, the escorting of reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. On 25 July, the ship departed on a six-month deployment to the Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea. The ship spent more than 100 continuous days at sea in a hot, tense environment—a striking contrast to the World Cruise months earlier. As the centerpiece for Battlegroup Echo, Missouri escorted the tanker convoys into the Strait of Hormuz, keeping the fire control system trained on land-based Iranian Silkworm missile launchers.

Missouri returned to the United States via Diego Garcia, Australia and Hawaii in early 1988. Several months later, Missouri's crew again headed for Hawaiian waters for the Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) exercises, which involved more than 50,000 troops and ships from the navies of Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. Port visits in 1988 included Vancouver and Victoria in Canada, San Diego, Seattle and Bremerton.

1989 was a hectic year in the life of the Missouri. The early months found the ship in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for routine maintenance. Independence Day weekend brought its share of fireworks. A few months later, the battleship departed for Pacific Exercise (PacEx)'89, where the Missouri and her sister ship the New Jersey performed a simultaneous gunfire demonstration for the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Nimitz. The highlight of PacEx was a port visit in Pusan, Republic of Korea. In 1990, Missouri again took part in the RimPac Exercise with ships from Australia, Canada, Japan and Korea in addition to United States Navy ships.

Gulf War (1990 to 1991)[edit]

On 2 August 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. In the middle of the month, 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 multi-national force in a standoff with the Iraqi dictator. Missouri's scheduled four-month Western Pacific port-to-port cruise set to begin in September was cancelled just a few days before the ship was to leave. She had been placed on hold in anticipation of being mobilized as forces continued to mass in the Middle East.

The word came. Missouri departed in mid-November for the troubled waters of the Persian Gulf. Amid the press coverage that a ship of the stature of Missouri is used to receiving, the historic dreadnought pulled away from Pier 6 at Long Beach and headed for Hawaii, her first stop on the long journey to the Persian Gulf. Missouri's crew celebrated Thanksgiving in Pearl Harbor, then headed for the Philippines for more work-ups enroute to the Persian Gulf. Next stop after Subic Bay was Pattaya Beach, Thailand, for a couple days of liberty, amid the underway training for gunnery, General Quarters and defense against chemical weapons.

Missouri arrived in the Persian Gulf a few days into the new year of 1991, and immediately answered a distress call from a ship on fire in Persian Gulf waters. Missouri dispatched firefighting experts to help, and then journeyed on to the island emirate of Bahrain.

After a very short liberty in Bahrain, Missouri headed north for operations. It was a few days after that, on 17 January 1991 that the ship fired Tomahawk missiles at Iraqi-held targets. These early morning launches helped mark the start of the war. As the United States and other countries around the world heard the words "The liberation of Kuwait has begun", Missouri continued to fire Tomahawks — 28 in all.

On 29 January 1991 Missouri, escorted by the frigate Curts, moved northward to engage Iraqi forces. In her first combat action of the Gulf War, Missouri’s gun crews sent 2,700 pound (1200 kg) shells crashing into an Iraqi command and control bunker just north of Khafji, Saudi Arabia. This marked the first time her 16-inch (406 mm) guns had been fired in combat since March 1953 off Korea. Missouri’s gun crews returned to action 5 February, silencing an Iraqi artillery battery with another 10 rounds. Over a three-day period, Missouri bombarded Iraqi strongholds with 112 16-inch shells. Missouri shared gunnery duties with her younger sister Wisconsin, and the two battleships continued to hammer their targets with 16-inch shells.

File:Missouri Shoots.JPG
Missouri fires a broadside of her 16-inch guns during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Both Missouri and Wisconsin fired their big guns in support of US and Coalition ground forces.

In support of the ongoing ground offensive Missouri trained her guns on Faylaka Island during the night of 23 February in a pyrotechnic feint intended to convince Iraqi troops along the Kuwaiti coast that the sea-borne invasion was imminent. Wisconsin, escorted by the frigate McInerney, joined her older sister in the offshore bombardment to lend additional credibility to the threat of an allied amphibious invasion. The feint worked, as Iraqi forces, believing that a sea-born invasion was imminent, reinforced their lines along the coast, allowing the real allied invasion force to circle around the coastal defense units. Shortly after Missouri’s shelling of Faylaka Island Wisconsin launched her Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to spot for her 16-inch guns. When Wisconsin’s drone arrived over Faylaka Island it observed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers waving white flags following Missouri’s attack on their trench lines—the first ever surrender of enemy troops to an unmanned aircraft controlled by a ship.[2] By the time President Bush ended hostilities both Missouri and Wisconsin had passed the million-pound (450 t) mark of ordnance delivered on Iraqi targets. During the Persian Gulf War the Iraqis fired two Silkworm missiles at the ship. One missile fell harmlessly into the sea, while the other was shot down by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Gloucester using two Sea Dart missiles.

Iraq agreed to a Soviet Union proposed cease fire agreement on 28 February 1991, ending the last war any battleship ever fought in.

In mid-March, Missouri made the long transit back to the West Coast, via two ports in Australia: Perth and Hobart, Tasmania. The ship returned to a joyous reunion with loved ones six months to the day after her departure.

Deactivation (1991 to 1992)[edit]

Missouri's final year found the ship visiting Seattle, Wash., Vancouver, British Columbia and San Francisco, Calif. The ship left for one final mission the day after Thanksgiving 1991. Heading across the Pacific, "Mighty Mo's" last act of diplomacy was to visit Pearl Harbor for the remembrance of those who had died 50 years earlier on 7 December 1941. It was a rare sight to see the beginning and the end of U.S. involvement in World War II in the same port.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the corresponding perceived lack of a threat against the United States came drastic cuts to the defense budget, and the high cost of maintaining battleships as part of the active fleet was deemed an ineffective expenditure. Missouri, veteran of three wars, was decommissioned for the final time on 31 March 1992 at Long Beach, California. Her last commanding officer, Captain Albert L. Kaiss, wrote this note in the ship's final Plan of the Day:

Museum ship (1993 to present)[edit]

USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; aft deck and 16 inch (406 mm) gun turret
Former crewmembers of the Battleship Missouri pose for photos shortly after the Anniversary of the End of World War II ceremony, held aboard the famous ship.

On 4 May 1998, Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton signed the donation contract that transferred the historic battleship to the nonprofit USS Missouri Memorial Association (MMA) of Honolulu, Hawaii. The ship was towed from Bremerton, Washington, on 23 May, made the 2,300 mile (3700 km) voyage across the eastern Pacific, and was gently docked at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor on 22 June, just 1,000 yards (900 m) from the 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 much resistance. Many people feared that the battleship, whose name has become synonymous with the end of World War II, would overshadow her sister ship USS Arizona, whose dramatic explosion and subsequent sinking during the December 7 air raid at Pearl Harbor has since become synonymous with the attack on Pearl Harbor. To help guard against this perception Missouri was placed well back of the Arizona Memorial, and positioned in Pearl Harbor in such a way as to prevent those participating in Military Ceremonies on Missouri's aft decks from seeing the Arizona Memorial. The decision to have Missouri's bow face the Arizona Memorial was intended to convey that Missouri now watches over the remains of the battleship Arizona so that those interred within Arizona's hull may rest in peace. These measures have helped preserve the individual identities of the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri Memorial, which has improved the public's perception of having both Arizona and Missouri in the same harbor.

Missouri is not eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark, even though she is the last completed U.S. battleship and 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. This is because much of her original equipment was removed when she was reactivated and modernized in 1986, and her configuration changed to accommodate new weapons, which resulted in a net loss of her historical integrity. Still, the battleship has secured her place in history, and her role as a museum in Pearl Harbor ensures that future generations will not forget her contribution.

Missouri received three battle stars for her service in World War II, five for her service during the Korean War, and three for her service during the Gulf War.

See USS Missouri for other ships of the same name.

Commanding officers of the USS Missouri[edit]

Missouri has seen 23 tours of duty with 20 different men serving as commanding officer.

  1. Captain William M. Callaghan11 June 1944 to 14 May 1945
    • Ship's first captain
  2. Captain Stuart S. Murray14 May 1945 to 6 November 1945
    • Commanding officer during Japanese surrender ceremony
  3. Captain Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter6 November 1945 to 31 May 1946
  4. Captain Tom B. Hill — 31 May 1946 to 2 April 1947
  5. Captain Robert L. Dennison2 April 1947 to 23 January 1948
    • Later summoned by President Truman to serve on his staff
  6. Captain John B. Colwell — 23 January 1948 to 24 February 1948
  7. Captain James H. Thach — 24 February 1948 to 5 February 1949
  8. Captain Harold P. Smith — 5 February 1949 to 10 December 1949
  9. Captain William D. Brown — 10 December 1949 to 3 February 1950
    • Known as "Muddy" Brown; was commanding officer when ship was accidentally grounded.
  10. Commander George E. Peckham — 3 February 1950 to 7 February 1950
    • First commanding officer not to hold rank of Captain, took command when Captain Brown was relieved after grounding.
  11. Captain Harold Smith — 7 February 1950 to 19 April 1950
    • Return of Captain Smith intended to restore confidence and morale among sailors.
  12. Captain Irving Duke — 19 April 1950 to 2 March 1951
  13. Captain George C. Wright — 2 March 1951 to 18 October 1951
  14. Captain John Sylvester — 18 October 1951 to 4 September 1952
  15. Captain Warner Edsall — 4 September 1952 to 26 March 1953
    • Suffered a heart attack and died on the bridge of the ship upon return to Sasebo, Japan.
  16. Commander James North — 26 March 1953 to 4 April 1953
    • Took command after Captain Edsall died.
  17. Captain Robert Brodie — 4 April 1953 to 1 April 1954
  18. Captain Robert Keith — 1 April 1954 to 18 September 1954
  19. Captain James North — 18 September 1954 to 26 February 1955
    • Returned to command USS Missouri, now with rank of Captain.
  20. Captain Albert Lee Kaiss — 10 May 1986 to 20 June 1986
    • First captain after recommissioning. Relieved in June 1986 due to health concerns.
  21. Captain James Carney — 20 June 1986 to 6 July 1988
  22. Captain John Chernesky — 6 July 1988 to 13 June 1990
  23. Captain Albert Lee Kaiss — 13 June 1990 to 31 March 1992
    • Health concerns alleviated, he returned to command Missouri in the Persian Gulf War.

See also[edit]

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External links[edit]

Popular culture[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Quoted from chinfo.navy.mil
  2. ^ information taken fromt he Federation of American Scientists website
  3. ^ Quoted from chinfo.navy.mil

References[edit]