Commissioning
The USS Missouri was a member of the Iowa-class of “fast battleships.” She was the final member of the class to be completed and one of four U.S. Navy vessels named in honor of the state. She is also the last battleship ever built by the United States.
The contract to build the Missouri was awarded to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on June 12, 1940. Her keel was laid down on Jan. 6, 1941; she was launched on Jan. 29, 1944. She was commissioned on June 11, 1944.
Underway
After a shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay, the Missouri headed for the Pacific Ocean in November 1944. She arrived in the Caroline Islands on Jan. 13, 1945, and became the temporary headquarters for Admiral Marc Mitscher. On Feb. 16, she provided support to the USS Lexington carrier battle group when she launched the first carrier air strikes against mainland Japan since the Doolittle raid in April 1942. The Missouri then headed to Iwo Jima, where she provided fire support for the invasion of that island on Feb. 19. She remained in the waters off of Iwo until March 5, when she returned to the Caroline Islands. On March 14, she escorted the USS Yorktown as that carrier approached the Japanese mainland for more air raids. While protecting the Yorktown, the Missouri would shoot down four Japanese aircraft.
After the aircraft carrier USS Franklin was hit by a kamikaze attack on March 19, the Missouri provided cover for her as she limped back to the Caroline Islands for repairs. The Missouri then set a course for Okinawa to support the upcoming invasion of that island. On March 24, the Missouri fired her first shells at Okinawa, striking the southeast beaches. She provided additional support when U.S. forces invaded the island on April 1.
On April 11, the Missouri was in the waters off Okinawa when a kamikaze hit her starboard just below the main deck. She suffered minor damage, including a dent in her side that was never repaired. The body of the kamikaze pilot was recovered and given a funeral with full military honors the next day. By the time the Missouri left Okinawa on May 5, she had shot down five enemy planes, aided in the destruction of another six and had destroyed a number of gun emplacements on the island itself.
On May 18, 1945, Admiral William F. Halsey transferred his flag to the Missouri, making her the flagship of the Third Fleet. After bombarding shore positions on Okinawa on May 27, the Missouri aided in attacks on the Japanese home island of Kyushu on June 2, 3 and 8.
In July, the Missouri headed back towards Japan, leading the Third Fleet as it conducted air raids against the enemy’s home islands. On July 10, Third Fleet aircraft struck Tokyo; they raided Honshu and Hokaido on July 13 and 14. On July 15, the Missouri’s 16-inch guns helped destroy the Nihon Steel Co. and Wanishi Ironworks at Muroran on the island of Hokkaido. On the night of July 17 and 18, the Missouri shelled targets on the island of Honshu; she would provide cover for the fleet’s aircraft carriers for the remainder of the month and into August.
After the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. The Missouri was ordered to enter Tokyo Bay on Aug. 29 and was designated the official site of Japan’s surrender. Led by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur, a long list of high-ranking allied officers were on board the Missouri on Sept. 2. These included Chinese General Hsu Yung-Ch’ang, British Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir Bruce Fraser, Soviet Lieutenant-General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko, Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Canadian Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, French Général d’Armée Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, Dutch Vice Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich, and New Zealand Air Vice Marshal Leonard M. Isitt. The Japanese contingent, led by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, boarded the Missouri shortly before 9 a.m. Tokyo time. At 9:25, the ceremony was complete and World War II was officially over.
As the rest of the Iowa-class and many other Navy ships were put into mothballs after World War II, the Missouri remained on active duty—in no small part due to the patronage of President Harry Truman, a Missouri native who had developed a fondness for the battleship. She played host to Truman and his family on several occasions, including a 12-day trip from Rio de Janeiro to Washington in September 1947. On Jan. 17, 1950, the Missouri ran aground off of Hampton Roads, Va.; she would not be refloated until Feb. 1.
When communist North Korea invaded U.S.-ally South Korea in August 1950, Truman ordered a large naval force, including the Missouri, to the area. Making the trip from the Atlantic Ocean, the Missouri was the first battleship to enter Korean waters when she shelled Samchok on Sept. 15, 1950 as a diversion in support of the landings at Inchon. On Oct. 14, she became the flagship of Vice Admiral A.D. Struble, who commanded the Seventh Fleet; two days earlier, she had started bombing coastal positions near Chongjin, Tanchon and Wonsan, a mission that would continue until Oct. 26.
While the Missouri was shelling these North Korean positions, the People’s Republic of China had entered the war on Oct. 19, 1950 and began to push United Nations forces back below the 38th Parallel. The Missouri entered Hungnam harbor and provided heavy gunfire support as the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division was evacuated on Dec. 23 and 24. The Missouri’s tour off Korea continued until March 19, 1951, when she headed for Yokosuka, Japan. She would eventually return to Norfolk for an overhaul that would last until the end of January 1952.
In October 1952, she returned to Korea and once again assumed the role as flagship of the Seventh Fleet. From Oct. 25 to Jan. 2, 1953, the Missouri provided fire support against enemy positions at Chongjin; Chaho; Wonsan; Hamhung; Hungnam; Chaho-Tanchon and Tnachon-Sonjin. After a short trip to Japan, the Missouri bombarded Wonsan, Tanheon, Hungnam and Kojo before leaving the region for good on in early April. She would remain on active duty for nearly two more years before being decommissioned on Feb. 26, 1955. She was moored at Bremerton, Wash., where she became a popular tourist attraction.
Twenty-nine years after her decommissioning, the Missouri was brought back to life on the orders of President Ronald Reagan in 1984 as the Navy underwent a massive expansion. Towed to the Long Beach (Calif.) Naval Yard for a massive overhaul, the Missouri’s weapons systems would change dramatically. Her 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as four of her 10 five-inch gun mounts, were removed. They were replaced with Harpoon anti-shipping missiles and Tomahawk cruise missile systems, as well as Phalanx Close In Weapon System Gatling Guns for anti-aircraft defense. She was officially recommissioned on May 10, 1986. One of her first deployments was an around-the-world cruise, the first for a battleship since Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” 80 years earlier.
In 1987, the Missouri was deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the protection of re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers against attacks from the Iranian Navy. Though the U.S. and Iranian navies would clash several times, the Missouri did not see action.
A return trip to the Persian Gulf in 1991, however, would be different. The Missouri arrived in gulf on Jan. 3, 1991, six months after Iraq invaded Kuwait. On Jan. 17, 1991, the Missouri would fire one of the first shots of Operation Desert Storm when she fired a Tomahawk cruise missile into Iraq. She would fire 27 more Tomahawks in the next five days. On Jan. 29, the Missouri moved to the northern end of the Persian Gulf and opened fire against Iraqi positions in Kuwait with her 16-inch guns, marking the first time they had been fired in anger in 38 years. She fired 112 16-inch shells from Feb. 3-6 against Iraqi beach defenses in Kuwait.
When Iraqi forces invaded Saudi Arabia near the town of Khafji on Feb. 11, the Missouri fired 60 16-inch rounds in support of an allied counterattack. She would fire 133 more rounds at Iraqi short defenses on Feb. 23 as part of a diversion intended to make Saddam Hussein and his military leaders believe a naval invasion was imminent. There were no plans for such an invasion, but the Missouri’s bombardment had helped convince the Iraqis to keep their coastal divisions in place while the “Hail Mary Play” offensive began in Western Iraq and Kuwait. In an attempt to sink the Missouri, the Iraqis fired a Chinese-built HY-2 Silkworm missile at the battleship; the Silkworm was intercepted by a Sea Dart missile fired by HMS Gloucester and crashed into the gulf 700 yards in front of the Missouri.
The Missouri would leave the gulf on March 21, 1991, after a ceasefire ended the conflict with Iraq ejected from Kuwait. On Dec. 7, 1991 the Missouri was at Pearl Harbor for the 50th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the installation that vaulted the United States into World War II. President George H. W. Bush came aboard the ship for a visit on that day, marking the first presidential visit to the Missouri since 1947.
As the Missouri’s career began to wind down for a second time, she served as the primary setting for the Steven Segal action movie “Under Siege,” in which Segal, a former Navy SEAL now serving as a cook on the battleship, retakes the vessel after a group of terrorists seize control of her on her decommissioning cruise.
Decommissioning
The Missouri was decommissioned for the final time on March 31, 1992 at Long Beach, Calif. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1995; she now serves as a floating museum at Pearl Harbor. The vessel that marked the end of World War II rests 500 yards from the sunken hulk of the USS Arizona, whose memorial marks the entry of the United States into the conflict.
Characteristics of the USS Missouri (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Class and type: Iowa-class battleship
Displacement: 45,000 tons (45,722 tonnes)
Length: 887 ft 3 in (270 m)
Beam: 108 ft 2 in (32.9 m)
Draft: 37 ft 2 in (11.3 m)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement: 151 officers, 2637 enlisted
Armament: 1943:
9 x 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns
20 × 5 in (127 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns
80 x 40 mm 56 cal. anti-aircraft guns
49 x 20 mm 70 cal. anti-aircraft guns
1984:
9 x 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns
12 × 5 in (127 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns
32 x BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles
16 x RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-Ship missiles
4 x 20 mm/76 cal. Phalanx CIWS
Armor: Belt: 12.1 in (307 mm)
Bulkheads: 11.3 in (287 mm)
Barbettes: 11.6 to 17.3 in (295 to 439 mm)
Turrets: 19.7 in (500 mm)
Decks: 7.5 in (190 mm)
Aircraft carried: floatplanes, helicopters, UAVs
Aviation facilities: none
Career:
Ordered: 12 June 1940
Builder: Brooklyn Navy Yard
Laid down: 6 January 1941
Launched: 29 January 1944
Commissioned: 11 June 1944
Decommissioned: 31 March 1992 (final)
Struck: 12 January 1995
Nickname: “Mighty Mo” or “Big Mo”
Honours and awards: 11 battle stars
Fate: Museum ship
Notes: Final battleship to be completed by the United States
Timeline:
June 1940: USS Missouri ordered
January 1941: Keel of USS Missouri laid down
January 1944; USS Missouri launched
June 1944: USS Missouri commissioned
February 1945: USS Missouri sees first combat action in World War II
March-May 1945: USS Missouri supports invasion of Okinawa
April 1945: USS Missouri suffers minor damage from Kamikaze attack
September 1945: USS Missouri serves as site of official Japanese surrender, ending World War II
September 1950: USS Missouri takes part in first combat action in Korea
February 1955: USS Missouri decommissioned
May 1986: USS Missouri recommissioned
1986: USS Missouri conducts around-the-world cruise
January-February 1991: USS Missouri takes part in Operation Desert Storm
March 1992: USS Missouri decommissioned
Crewmembers of the USS Missouri:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Missouri can be found on the unofficial navy website at: http://navysite.de. This list is compiled by former crewmembers that voluntarily register. Some quoted comments from former crewmembers are listed below; many more are available on the source website at the following Web address:
http://www.navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=64
Joe Jackson (served August 1988—August 1991): “I will always have pride in the knowledge that im a part of the history of the BATTLESHIP MISSOURI. I was the best 25mm CHAINGUNNER (port side).”
Ed Castro (served August 1988—August 1992): “Worked in EMO1 and EMO4 during Desert Storm.”
John Ellis (served September 1988—March 1992): “Those were the days.”
Michael Bass (served September 1988—February 1991): “She was the best ship ever. It was an honor to be a part of her crew in service to the United States of America. I will never forget her.”
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/bb63.htm
