'USS ''Missouri'' (BB-63)' ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a
U.S. Navy battleship, and was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the
U.S. state of
Missouri. ''Missouri'' is the final battleship to be built by the
United States, and among the
''Iowa''-class battleships is notable for being the site of the surrender of the
Empire of Japan at the end of
World War II. ''Missouri'' was ordered on
12 June 1940 and her
keel was laid at the
New York Navy Yard in the
New York City borough of
Brooklyn on
6 January 1941.
During her career ''Missouri'' saw action in World War II during the
Battle of Iwo Jima and the
Battle of Okinawa, and shelled the Japanese home islands of
HokkaidÅ and
Honshū. After World War II she returned to the United States before being called up and dispatched to fight in the
Korean War. Upon her return to the United States she was decommissioned into the
United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "Mothball Fleet" in 1955. She was reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the
600-ship Navy plan, and participated in the 1991
Gulf War.
''Missouri'' was decommissioned a final time on
31 March 1992, having received a total of eleven
battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf. She was maintained on the
Naval Vessel Register until January 1995, when her name was struck. In 1998 she was donated to the Missouri Memorial Association, and is presently a
museum ship at
Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
Construction
Main articles: Iowa class battleship,
Armament of the Iowa class battleship
''Missouri'' was one of the
''Iowa''-class "
fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the
Bureau of Construction and Repair. She was launched on
29 January 1944 and commissioned on
11 June. The ship was the third of the ''Iowa'' class, but the fourth and final battleship commissioned by the
US Navy.
[1][2][3] The ship was christened at her launching by
Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of
Harry S. Truman, then a senator from
Missouri.
[4]
''Missouri''’s main battery consisted of nine
16 inch (406 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 naval guns, which could hurl 2,700
lb armor piercing shells some . Her secondary battery consisted of ten
5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns, which could fire at targets up to away. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain
air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of allied
aircraft carriers; to this end, ''Missouri'' was fitted with an array of
Oerlikon 20 mm and
Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns to defend allied carriers from enemy airstrikes. When reactivated in 1984 ''Missouri'' had her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns removed, and was outfitted with
Phalanx CIWS mounts for protection against enemy missiles and aircraft, and
Armored Box Launchers and Quad Cell Launchers designed to fire
Tomahawk missiles and
Harpoon missiles, respectively.
[5]
Although
USS ''Wisconsin'' (BB-64) is numerically the highest numbered US battleship built, she was actually completed before ''Missouri'', making ''Missouri'' the last completed US battleship.
World War II (1944–1945)
Shakedown and Service with Task Force 58, Admiral Mitscher
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 24 December 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 the carrier
USS ''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
Honshū continued. During a Japanese attack, two
bombs penetrated the hangar deck and decks aft of the carrier
''Franklin'', leaving her dead in the water within 50 miles (90 km) of the Japanese mainland. The
cruiser USS ''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.
A Japanese Zero about to hit the ''Missouri''
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 40 mm gun tubs. Captain
William M. 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 —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.
[7]
About 23:05 on
17 April 1945, ''Missouri'' detected an enemy
submarine 12 miles (22 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.
Service with the 3rd Fleet, Admiral Halsey
''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''.
[8] She passed out of the harbor on
21 May, and by
27 May was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on
Okinawa. ''Missouri'' now led the 3rd Fleet in strikes on airfields and installations on
Kyūshū on
2 June and
3 June. She rode out a fierce storm on
5 June and
6 June that wrenched the
bow off the cruiser
''Pittsburgh''. Some topside fittings were smashed, but ''Missouri'' suffered no major damage. Her fleet again struck
Kyūshū on
8 June, then hit hard in a coordinated air-surface bombardment before retiring towards
Leyte. She arrived at
San Pedro, Leyte, on
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 on
8 July to approach the Japanese mainland. Raids took
Tokyo by surprise on
10 July, followed by more devastation at the juncture of
Honshū and
HokkaidÅ on
13 July 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 on
15 July that rained destruction on the Nihon Steel Co. and the Wanishi Ironworks at
Muroran, Hokkaido.
During the nights of
17 July and
18 July ''Missouri'' bombarded industrial targets in
Honshū.
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
HokkaidÅ and northern
Honshū resumed on
9 August 1945, the day the second
atomic bomb was dropped. On
10 August 1945, 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 Harry S. Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of
unconditional surrender.
Signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender
Main articles: Japanese Instrument of Surrender
American and British sailors and officers watch General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur sign documents during the surrender ceremony aboard ''Missouri'' on
2 September 1945. The unconditional surrender of the Japanese to the
Allies officially ended the Second World War.
Admiral Sir
Bruce Fraser of the
Royal Navy, the Commander of the
British Pacific Fleet, boarded ''Missouri'' on
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 on
21 August. ''Missouri'' herself entered
Tokyo Bay early on
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 on
2 September, including (but not limited to)
Free French General Leclerc,
Republic of China General Hsu Yung-Ch'ang,
Soviet Lieutenant-General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko,
Australian
General Sir
Thomas Blamey,
Canadian Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave,
Netherlands Vice Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich, and
New Zealand Air Vice Marshal Leonard M. Isitt.
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 the surrender ceremony the deck of the ''Missouri'' was decorated with just two American flags. One 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. The other U.S. flag came off the battleship while anchored in Tokyo Bay, it had not flown over the
White House or the
Capitol Building on
7 December 1941, it was "...just a plain ordinary GI flag."
[9]
By 09:30 the Japanese emissaries had departed. In the afternoon of
5 September Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to the battleship
''South Dakota'', and early the next day ''Missouri'' departed Tokyo Bay. As part of the ongoing
Operation ''Magic Carpet'' 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 eastern seaboard of the United States. She reached
New York City on
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. During the afternoon of
21 March 1946, she received the remains of the
Turkish Ambassador to the United States
Münir Ertegün. She departed
22 March for
Gibraltar and on
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.
On
13 December, during a target practice exercise in the North Atlantic, a star shell accidentally struck the battleship; fortunately, there were no reported injuries.
[10]
''Missouri'' was accidentally grounded early on the morning of
17 January 1950.
''Missouri'' arrived in
Rio de Janeiro on
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.
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.
Throughout the latter half of the 1940s the various service branches of the United States had been downsizing their inventories from their World War II levels. In the Navy this resulted in several vessels of various types being decommissioned and either sold for scrap or placed in one the various
United States Navy reserve fleets scattered along the
East and
West Coast of the United States. As part of this drawdown three of the ''Iowa''-class battleships had been de-activated and decommissioned; however, 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, 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 commissioned by his daughter
Margaret Truman.
[11][12]
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 (3.0 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.
Seizing the opportunity to criticize the United States, the Soviet Union ran a story in its naval publication "Red Fleet" which criticized the grounding of the battleship.
With the aid of
tugboats,
pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was refloated on
1 February 1950 and repaired shortly thereafter.
The Korean War Period (1950-1955)
In 1950
North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting the United States to intervene in the name of the
United Nations.
President Harry S. Truman was caught off guard when the invasion struck,
[13] but quickly ordered U.S. Forces stationed in Japan into South Korea. Truman also sent U.S. based troops, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, 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
Kyūshū 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 at
Sasebo on
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 October to
26 October in the
Chonjin and
Tanchon areas, and at
Wonsan where she again screened carriers eastward of Wonsan.
MacAurthor’s amphibious landings at Inchon 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
Peoples Republic of China (PRC) out of fear that the U.N. offensive against Korea would create a capitalist country on China’s border, and out of concern that the U.N. offensive in Korea could evolve into a U.N. war against China. The latter of these two threats had already manifested itself during the Korea War: U.S.
F-86 Sabres on patrol in "
MiG Alley" frequently crossed into China while pursuing Communist Migs operating out of Chinese airbases.
[14]
Moreover, there was talk among the U.N. commanders—notably General
Douglas MacArthur—about a potential campaign against the People's Republic of China. In an effort to dissuade U.N. forces from completely overrunning North Korea the Peoples Republic of China issued diplomatic warnings that they would use force to protect the PRC, but these warnings were not taken seriously for a number a reasons, among them the fact that China lacked air cover to conduct such an attack.
[15] This changed abruptly on
19 October 1950, when the first of an eventual total of 380,000
People's Liberation Army soldiers under the command of General
Peng Dehuai crossed into North Korea, launching a full scale
assault against advancing U.N. troops. The PRC offensive caught the U.N. completely by surprise; 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.
''Missouri'' fires her guns against enemy positions during the Korean War. Notice the effect on the seawater under the guns.
''Missouri'' conducted additional operations with carriers and shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until
19 March 1951. She arrived at
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 1951 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 1952 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 of Korea.
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 1953 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. During this voyage the ''Missouri'' was joined by the other three battleships of the class, USS ''New Jersey'', ''Wisconsin'', and ''Iowa'', the only time the four ships sailed together.
[16] She returned Norfolk
3 August and departed
23 August 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.
Reactivation (1984 to 1990)
USS ''Missouri'' in dry dock during her modernization at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1985.
Under the
Reagan Administration’s program to build a
600-ship Navy, led by
Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman, ''Missouri'' was reactivated and moved under tow to the Long Beach Naval Yard for modernization in the summer of 1984.
During the modernization ''Missouri'' had all of her remaining
Oerlikon 20 mm and
Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns removed, due to their ineffectiveness against modern
jet fighters and enemy anti-ship missiles; additionally, the two 5 in gun mounts located at mid-ship and in the
aft on the
port and
starboard side of the battleship were removed.
[17]
Over the next several months the ship was upgraded with the most advanced weaponry available; among the new weapons systems installed were four MK 141 quad cell launchers for 16
AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, eight
Armored Box Launcher (ABL) mounts for 32
BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and a quartet of
Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS) gatling guns for defense against enemy
anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft.
Also included in her modernization were upgrades to
radar and
fire control systems for her guns and missiles, and improved
electronic warfare capabilities.
Armed as such, ''Missouri'' was formally recommissioned in
San Francisco, California on
10 May 1986. "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."
[18]
.jpg)
Crewmen man the rails as ''Missouri'' formally recommissions in San Francisco, California
Four months later, the nation's most recently recommissioned battleship departed from her new home port of
Long Beach for an around-the-world cruise, bringing the message of "Strength for Freedom" to:
Hawaii,
Australia including
Tasmania,
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 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. These smaller caliber weapons were installed due to the threat of
Iranian-manned,
Swedish-made
Boghammer cigarette boats operating in the Persian Gulf at the time.
[19] On
25 July 1987, 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 tanker
convoys into the
Strait of Hormuz, keeping her fire control system trained on land-based Iranian
Silkworm missile launchers.
[20]
''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. In Long Beach, American singer
Cher filmed her controversial
music video of "
If I Could Turn Back Time" aboard, using crewmembers for extras. A few months later, the battleship departed for Pacific Exercise (PacEx)'89, where ''Missouri'' and her sister ship
''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)
On
2 August 1990 Saddam Hussein's
Iraq invaded
Kuwait. In the middle of the month,
President George H. W. Bush, in keeping with the
Carter Doctrine, 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 canceled 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. ''Missouri'' departed
13 November 1990 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 and the
Philippines for more work-ups en route to the
Persian Gulf. Along the way she made stops at
Subic Bay and Pattaya Beach,
Thailand, before transiting the
Strait of Hormuz on
3 January 1991. During subsequent operations leading up to
Operation ''Desert Storm'', ''Missouri'' prepared to launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) and provide on-call naval gunfire support.
''Missouri'' fired her first Tomahawk missile at Iraqi targets at 01:40 on
17 January 1991, followed by 27 additional missiles over the next five days.
On
29 January 1991 the
''Oliver Hazard Perry''-class frigate ''Curts'', using advanced mine-avoidance sonar, led ''Missouri'' northward. In her first naval fire support action of the Gulf War, ''Missouri'' gun crews sent 2,700 lb shells crashing into an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border. It marked the first time her guns had been fired in combat since March 1953 off Korea.
[21] In addition, the battleship bombarded Iraqi beach defenses in occupied Kuwait on the night of
3 February, firing 112 16 inch rounds over the next three days until relieved by her sister ship
''Wisconsin''. ''Missouri'' then fired another 60 rounds off
Khafji 11 February and
12 February before steaming north to Faylaka Island. After
minesweepers cleared a lane through Iraqi defenses, ''Missouri'' fired 133 rounds during four shore bombardment missions as part of the amphibious landing
feint against the Kuwaiti shore line the morning of
23 February.
The heavy pounding attracted Iraqi attention; in response to the battleship’s artillery strike, the Iraqi’s fired two HY-2
Silkworm missiles at the battleship. One of the two missiles launched missed ''Missouri'',
[22] while the other Silkworm Missile was intercepted by GWS-30
Sea Dart missiles launched from the British air defence destroyer
HMS ''Gloucester'' within 90 seconds and crashed into the sea roughly in front of ''Missouri''.
[23]
During the Gulf War ''Missouri'' was involved in a
friendly fire incident with the ''Oliver Hazard Perry''-class frigate
USS ''Jarrett''. According to the official report, on
25 February ''Jarrett''’s Phalanx engaged the
chaff fired by ''Missouri'' as a countermeasure against enemy missiles, and stray rounds from the firing struck ''Missouri'', one of which penetrated through a
bulkhead and embedded in an interior passageway of the ship. Another round struck the ship on the forward funnel, passing completely through it. One sailor aboard ''Missouri'' was struck in the neck by flying shrapnel and suffered minor injuries. Those familiar with the incident are skeptical of this account, however, as ''Jarrett'' was reportedly over 2 miles away at the time and the characteristics of chaff are such that a Phalanx would not normally regard it as a threat and engage it.
[24]. There is no dispute that the rounds that struck ''Missouri'' did come from ''Jarrett'', and that it was an accident. The suspicion is that a Phalanx operator on ''Jarrett'' may have accidentally fired off a few rounds manually; however, no evidence to support this theory has ever been discovered.
During the Gulf War ''Missouri'' also assisted coalition forces engaged in clearing Iraqi
naval mines in Persian Gulf. By the time the war ended ''Missouri'' had destroyed at least 15 naval mines.
With combat operations past the reach of the battleship’s guns on
26 February, ''Missouri'' conducted patrol and armistice enforcement operations in the northern Persian Gulf until sailing for home on
21 March 1991. Following stops at Fremantle and Hobart, Australia, the warship visited Pearl Harbor before arriving home in April. She spent the remainder of the year conducting type training and other local operations, the latter including the
7 December 1991 "voyage of remembrance" to mark the 50th anniversary of the
Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. During that ceremony, ''Missouri'' hosted
President George H. W. Bush, the first such presidential visit for the warship since
Harry S. Truman boarded the battleship in September 1947.
Museum ship (1993 to present)
With the
collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the absence of a perceived threat to the United States came 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, California.
[26] Her last commanding officer, Captain
Albert L. Kaiss, wrote this note in the ship's final Plan of the Day:
Former crew members of the Battleship ''Missouri'' pose for photos shortly after the Anniversary of the End of World War II ceremony, held aboard the famous ship.
''Missouri'' remained part of the reserve fleet at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard,
Bremerton, Washington, until
12 January 1995, when she was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register. 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 to the Port of
Astoria, Oregon where she sat in
fresh water at the mouth of the
Columbia River to kill and drop the
barnacles and
sea grasses that had grown on her
hull in Bremerton.
With this action completed she was towed across the eastern Pacific, and was gently docked at
Ford Island, Pearl Harbor on
22 June, just 500 yards (about 450 meters) from the
''Arizona'' Memorial.
Less than a year later, on
29 January 1999, ''Missouri'' was opened as a museum operated by the MMA.
USS ''Missouri'' taken from the ''Arizona'' Memorial.
Originally, the decision to move ''Missouri'' to Pearl Harbor met with some resistance. Many people feared that the battleship, whose name has become synonymous with the end of World War II, would "overshadow" the battleship
USS ''Arizona'', whose dramatic explosion and subsequent sinking during
December 7 air raid at Pearl Harbor has since become synonymous with the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
[27] 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.
[28]
Plaque commemorating the surrender of Japan to end World War II.
''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 the loss of her historical integrity.
''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.
''Missouri'' also received numerous ribbon awards for her service in World War II, Korean, and the Persian Gulf.
[29]
Notes
1. Naval Vessel Register
2. At the time ''Missouri'' was commissioned two other ''Iowa''-class battleships— USS ''Illinois'' and USS ''Kentucky''— were under construction, and the United States Navy had commissioned plans for the ''Montana''-class battleships; however, ''Illinois'' and ''Kentucky'' were canceled before their construction had been completed, and the ''Montana''s were suspended and ultimately canceled before any of their hulls were laid down.
3. Internationally, there were two other battleships that came after ''Missouri'': the British battleship HMS ''Vanguard'', the final battleship constructed by the Royal Navy, and the French battleship ''Jean Bart''.
4. USS Missouri (BB 63) History
5. The Battleships, , , Johnston, Ian & McAuley, Rob, Channel 4 Books (an imprint of Pan Macmillian, LTD), , ISBN 0752261886
6. ''Wisconsin'' was commissioned April 16 1944[1] while USS ''Missouri'' was commissioned June 11 1944[2]
7.
8. William F. Halsey held the rank of a four star Admiral throughout the Second World War. In December of 1945, four monthes after the official surrender of the Japanese, he was promoted to the rank of Fleet Admiral and awarded his fifth star. Source
9. Admiral Stuart S Murray’s oral history RE Surrender table 2 September 1945
10. USS Missouri (BB-63) (subsection: Accidents aboard USS MISSOURI)
11. USS Missouri: Served in World War II and Korean War
12. Mighty Mo anchors 0,000 donation
13. American Secretary of State Dean Acheson had told Congress on June 20 that no war was likely.
14.
15. Schnable p 212; Robert J. Donovan, ''Tumultuous Years'' (1982) p 285.
16. Philip Kaplan, ''Battleship'' (2004) p 166 ISBN 1-85410-902-2.
17. BB-61 IOWA-class (Specifications)
18. United States Navy Battleships: USS Missouri (BB 63)
19. Frequently Asked Questions
20. USS Missouri Command History 1987
21. V: "Thunder And Lightning"- The War With Iraq (Subsection:The War At Sea)
22. USS Missouri (BB-63) Frequently Asked Questions
23. Pride & Glory Gregg K. Kakesako
24. Lead Report #14246, 23 Jan 1998
25. TAB H -- Friendly-fire Incidents
26. NavSource Naval History. BB-64 USS Wisconsin: Keel Laying - Shakedown Cruise. Accessed December 1, 2006.
27. Will "Mighty Mo" be too much?
28. Next stop... Mighty Mo, the USS MISSOURI (BB63)
29. Missouri Ribbon Bar
References
★ Paul Chan, Ian and McAuley, Rob. ''The Battleships''. Channel 4 Books, London ISBN 0-7522-6188-6
★ Naval Historical Foundation. ''The Navy''. Barnes & Noble Inc, China ISBN 0-7607-6218-X
★ Kaplan, Philip ''Battleship'' (2004) Arum Press Ltd, London ISBN 1-85410-902-2
★ Stillwell, Paul. ''Battleship Missouri: An Illustrated History.'' Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1557507805
★
External links
★
Memorial museum site
★
Photo gallery
★
USS ''Missouri'' at FactPlace
★
history.navy.mil: USS ''Missouri''
★
navsource.org: USS ''Missouri''
★
hazegray.org: USS ''Missouri''
★
nvr.navy.mil: USS ''Missouri''
★
navysite.de: USS ''Missouri''
★
Timeline of Combat for Operation ''Desert Storm''
★
Maritimequest USS Missouri BB-63 Photo Gallery
★
Video: Inside one of ''Missouri''’s 16" gun room, about 1955. (Windows Media File)
★
WWII Battleship Site Entry for USS ''Missouri''
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