USS Missouri (BB-63)
USA /
Hawaii /
Aiea /
World
/ USA
/ Hawaii
/ Aiea
World / United States / Hawaii
museum, Second World War 1939-1945, battleship, historic landmark, United States Navy, museum ship
The USS Missouri (BB-63) was laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on January 6, 1941 and when she launched into the East River on January 29, 1944, she was the final battleship built by the United States and the second-to-last in the world. Formally commissioning into US Navy service on June 11, 1944, the USS Missouri departed the East Coast for training and then the Pacific Theatre, where her speed, heavy armament and substantial anti-aircraft batteries were needed in the continuing fight against the Empire of Japan.
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 several times. At the cessation of hostilities, the Missouri was selected to be the ship which would receive the dignitaries of the Empire of Japan for the formal surrender ceremonies, which took place on her foward deck on September 2nd, 1945, formally ending the Second World War.
From 1950 to 1953, the Missouri returned to action in the Korean War and again found herself supporting amphibious landings, this time at Incheon in September 1950. She would spend the following three years alternatively screening carrier groups and providing fire support to UN forces fighting on the mainland. In 1953, she transferred her post to her sister USS New Jersey (BB-62) and after hosting several Midshipmen training cruises for the next two years, the USS Missouri was decommissioned at Bremerton Naval Station on February 26th, 1955.
Missouri would spend the next 31 years out of commission, but she certainly was not inactive. As many as 180,000 visitors a year would board the ship to see the bronze plaque on her deck, marking the spot where the Instrument of Surrender had been signed.
Cold War tensions and the Reagan Administrations 600-Ship Navy plan gave a new breath of life to the USS Missouri, and beginning in 1984 she was extensively modernized for active service in the modern US Navy. Most notable among her upgrades was the removal of most of her anti-aircraft and secondary armaments for the addition of Tomahawk Armored Box Launchers, increasing her combat range to 2,500km. After two years of overhaul, USS Missouri formally re-commissioned to the US Navy on May 10, 1986.
Spending the next years taking part in exercises and good will cruises, the Missouri was called to action again as part of Operation Earnest Will in 1987 where she again screened ships, this time reflagged oil tankers, through the hostile waters of the Persian Gulf. Only four years later, Missouri would return to the Persian Gulf, this time as part of the US-led coalition intent on repulsing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991.
Firing her first warshot in almost 40 years, a Tomahawk Missile roared off her decks at 1:40am on January 17th, 1991. Several days later, the 16-inch guns of the Missouri were fired in anger for the first time since 1953 when the destroyed an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border on January 29th, 1991. After forming part of a false invasion front with her sistership USS Wisconsin (BB-64), the Missouri spent the rest of her time in the Gulf War engaged in minesweeping and on-call Tomahawk strikes as the rapidly advancing coalition troops outranged her guns. Departing the Persian Gulf on March 21st, 1991, Missouri had left 759 16-inch shells and 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles as her mark on the Gulf War.
Missouri remained in commission for only a year after the Gulf War, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War she was deemed surplus to the needs of the Navy. USS Missouri was decommissioned for the final time on March 31, 1992 and after three years in reserve she was struck from the Naval Register in 1995. On May 4, 1998 she was donated to serve as a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, where her place in history as the site where the Second World War ended would be secure alongside the USS Arizona, where the Second World War began for the United States.
USS Missouri received three Battle Stars for her World War II service, five Battle Stars for Korean War service and three Battle Stars for her service during the Gulf War. She presently serves in a well-deserved role as a museum ship here at Pearl Harbor.
www.ussmissouri.com/
www.navsource.org/archives/01/63a.htm
maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=21.362067000000014~-1...
USS Missouri tours through USS Missouri Memorial Association:
www.ussmissouri.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMp-FBwV7w
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 several times. At the cessation of hostilities, the Missouri was selected to be the ship which would receive the dignitaries of the Empire of Japan for the formal surrender ceremonies, which took place on her foward deck on September 2nd, 1945, formally ending the Second World War.
From 1950 to 1953, the Missouri returned to action in the Korean War and again found herself supporting amphibious landings, this time at Incheon in September 1950. She would spend the following three years alternatively screening carrier groups and providing fire support to UN forces fighting on the mainland. In 1953, she transferred her post to her sister USS New Jersey (BB-62) and after hosting several Midshipmen training cruises for the next two years, the USS Missouri was decommissioned at Bremerton Naval Station on February 26th, 1955.
Missouri would spend the next 31 years out of commission, but she certainly was not inactive. As many as 180,000 visitors a year would board the ship to see the bronze plaque on her deck, marking the spot where the Instrument of Surrender had been signed.
Cold War tensions and the Reagan Administrations 600-Ship Navy plan gave a new breath of life to the USS Missouri, and beginning in 1984 she was extensively modernized for active service in the modern US Navy. Most notable among her upgrades was the removal of most of her anti-aircraft and secondary armaments for the addition of Tomahawk Armored Box Launchers, increasing her combat range to 2,500km. After two years of overhaul, USS Missouri formally re-commissioned to the US Navy on May 10, 1986.
Spending the next years taking part in exercises and good will cruises, the Missouri was called to action again as part of Operation Earnest Will in 1987 where she again screened ships, this time reflagged oil tankers, through the hostile waters of the Persian Gulf. Only four years later, Missouri would return to the Persian Gulf, this time as part of the US-led coalition intent on repulsing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991.
Firing her first warshot in almost 40 years, a Tomahawk Missile roared off her decks at 1:40am on January 17th, 1991. Several days later, the 16-inch guns of the Missouri were fired in anger for the first time since 1953 when the destroyed an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border on January 29th, 1991. After forming part of a false invasion front with her sistership USS Wisconsin (BB-64), the Missouri spent the rest of her time in the Gulf War engaged in minesweeping and on-call Tomahawk strikes as the rapidly advancing coalition troops outranged her guns. Departing the Persian Gulf on March 21st, 1991, Missouri had left 759 16-inch shells and 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles as her mark on the Gulf War.
Missouri remained in commission for only a year after the Gulf War, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War she was deemed surplus to the needs of the Navy. USS Missouri was decommissioned for the final time on March 31, 1992 and after three years in reserve she was struck from the Naval Register in 1995. On May 4, 1998 she was donated to serve as a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, where her place in history as the site where the Second World War ended would be secure alongside the USS Arizona, where the Second World War began for the United States.
USS Missouri received three Battle Stars for her World War II service, five Battle Stars for Korean War service and three Battle Stars for her service during the Gulf War. She presently serves in a well-deserved role as a museum ship here at Pearl Harbor.
www.ussmissouri.com/
www.navsource.org/archives/01/63a.htm
maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=21.362067000000014~-1...
USS Missouri tours through USS Missouri Memorial Association:
www.ussmissouri.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMp-FBwV7w
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 21°21'43"N 157°57'12"W
- Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor 1.1 km
- Hawaii Plantation Village 6.7 km
- Bishop Museum 8.9 km
- Hawaiian Railway Museum 10 km
- Fort DeRussy 15 km
- Polynesian Cultural Center 32 km
- Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum 165 km
- Kona Coffee Living History Farm 298 km
- ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i 351 km
- Volcano Art Center 356 km
- East Loch 1.7 km
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam (IATA: HIK – ICAO: PHIK) 2.7 km
- Pearl Harbor 2.7 km
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Waipio Annex 3.7 km
- NAVMAG Pearl Harbor 4.5 km
- West Loch 4.6 km
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Ewa Annex 5.2 km
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL/PHNL) 5.5 km
- Oʻahu 13 km
- Honolulu, Hawaii 15 km
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