Missouri USS

[shipstamps]

Three stamps of Turkey, issued 1946, commemorate the visit of the United States battleship Missouri to Istanbul when she arrived with the body of Mr. Munir Ertegun, Turkish Ambassador, who had died in Washington. The Missouri will always be remembered as the ship in which the Japanese surrender was signed in the Bay of Tokyo on September 2. 1945. Built at the New York Navy Yard and completed on June 11, 1944, her standard displacement is 45,000 tons (52,000 fully loaded), her overall length 887ft her complement 2,700 and her main armament nine 16in.. 20 Sin. and 80 40mm. anti-aircraft guns, while she has two catapults and carries four aircraft.
SG1353,54 Sea Breezes 11/51

[aukepalmhof]

Built as a battleship by the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn for the United States Navy.
12 June 1940 ordered as one of the Iowa class.
29 January 1944 launched as the USS MISSOURI (BB-63), christened by Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry S. Truman at that time a Senator from Missouri. Three sisters.
Displacement 45.000 tons standard, 59.000 tons full load. Dim. 270.4 x 33 x 8.8m. (draught).
Powered by four General Electric geared steam turbines, 212.000 shp., four shafts, speed 27.5 knots.
Armament 9 – 16inch, 20 – 5 inch, 80 – 40mm AA and 49 – 20mmAA guns.
Two aircraft.
Crew 2.700.
11 June 1944 commissioned, under command of Capt. William M Callaghan.
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 Ulithi, West Caroline Islands, 13 January 1945. There she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Adm. 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 flattops launched the first airstrikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid that had been launched from carrier HORNET in April 1942.
MISSOURI then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her Mighty 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 splashed four Japanese aircraft.
Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshu continued. WASP was hit by an enemy suicide plane on 19 March, but she resumed flight operations within an hour. Two bombs penetrated the hangar deck and decks aft of carrier FRANKLIN, leaving her dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland. Cruiser PITTSBURG took FRANKLIN in tow until she gained speed to 14 knots. 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.
MISSOURY joined the fast battleships of TF 58 in bombarding the southeast coast of Okinawa 24 March, 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 YAMOTO 7 April. YAMOTTO, the world's largest battlewagon, 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 suicide plane which penetrated the curtain of her shells to crash just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5-inch Gunmount N o. 3. Yet the battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control. The remains of the pilot’s body were recovered onboard the ship just aft of one of the 40mm gun tubs, as was to be the body of the petty officer Ishino Setsuo. Captain William Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability and with honour, and that he should be given a military funeral. The following day he was buried at sea with military honors. The dent in the side of the ship remains to this day.
About 2305 on 17 April, MISSOURI detected an enemy submarine 12 miles from her formation. Her report set off a hunter-killer operation by 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.
MISSOURI arrived Ulithi 9 May and thence proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam, and 18 May. That afternoon Adm. 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 3d 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 cruiser PITTSBURG. 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, after almost 3 months of continuous operations in support of the Okinawa campaign.
Here she prepared to lead the 3d 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 17-18 July MISSOURI bombarded industrial targets in the Hichiti area, Honshu. Inland Sea aerial strikes continued through 25 July, 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, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped. Next day, at 2054 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 0745, 15 August, was word received that President Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender.
Adm. Sir Bruce Fraser, RN (Commander, 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 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 formal surrender ceremony.
High-ranking military officials of all the Allied Powers were received on board 2 September. Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz boarded shortly after 0800, and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander for the Allies) came on board at 0843. The Japanese representatives, headed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 0856. At 0902 General MacArthur stepped before a battery of microphones and the 23-minute surrender ceremony was broadcast to the waiting world by stating, “It is my earnest hope-indeed the hope of all mankind-that from the blood and carnage of the past, a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice. During the surrender ceremony, the deck of MISSOURI was decorated with a 31-star American flag that had been taken ashore by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 after his squadron of “Black Ships” sailed into Tokyo Bay to urge the opening of Japan’s ports to foreign trade. This flag was actually displayed with the reverse side showing, i.e., stars in the upper right corner: the historic flag was so fragile that the conservator at the Naval Academy Museum had sewn a protective linen backing to one side to help to secure the fabric from deteriorating, leaving its “wrong side” visible. The flag was displayed in a wood-framed case secured to the bulkhead overlooking the surrender ceremony. Another U.S. flag was raised and flown during the occasion. By 0930 the Japanese emissaries had departed.
The afternoon of 6 September Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to battleship SOUTH DAKOTA. Early next day MISSOURI departed Tokyo Bay to receive homeward bound passengers at Guam, thence sailed unescorted for Hawaii. She arrived Pearl Harbor 20 September and flew Admiral Nimitz' flag on the afternoon of 28 September for a reception.
The next day MISSOURI departed Pearl Harbor bound for the eastern seaboard of the United States. She reached New York City 28 September and broke the flag of Adm. Jonas Ingram, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, MISSOURI boomed out a 21-gun salute 27 October as President Truman boarded for Navy day ceremonies. In his address the President stated that "control of our sea approaches and of the skies above them is still the key to our freedom and to our ability to help enforce the peace of the world."
After overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard and a training cruise to Cuba, MISSOURI returned to New York. The afternoon of 21 March I946 she received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Melmet Munir Ertegun. She departed 22 March for Gibraltar and 5 April anchored in the Bosporus off Istanbul. She rendered full honors, including the firing of a 19-gun salute during both the transfer of the remains of the late Ambassador and 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 people. 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 gave comfort to both Greece and Turkey. News media proclaimed her a symbol of U.S. interest in preserving Greek and Turkish liberty. With an August decision to deploy a strong fleet to the Mediterranean, it became obvious that the United States intended to use her naval sea and air power to stand firm against the tide of Soviet subversion.
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 Straits 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 accidently struck the battleship but without causing injuries.
MISSOURI arrived 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, 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 to return to the United States and debarked at Norfolk 19 September. Overhaul in New York (23 September to 10 March 1948) was followed by refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. Summer 1948 was devoted t o midshipman and reserve training cruises. Also in 1948 became she the first battleship to host a helicopter detachment, operating two Sikorsky HO3S-1 helicopters for utility and rescue work The battleship departed Norfolk 1 November for a second 3-week Arctic cold weather training cruise to the Davis Straits. The next 2 years MISSOURI participated in Atlantic command exercises ranging from the New England coast to the Caribbean, alternated with two midshipman summer training cruises. She was overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 23 September 1949 to 17 February 1950.
Now the only U.S. battleship in commission, MISSOURI was proceeding seaward on a training mission from Hampton Roads early 17 January when she ran aground at a point 1.6 miles from Thimble Shoals Light, near Old Point Comfort. She traversed shoal water a distance of three ship lengths from the main channel. Lifted some 7 feet above waterline, she struck hard and fast. With the aid of tugs, pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was refloated 1 February and repaired.
From mid-February until 15 August MISSOURI conducted midshipman and reserve training cruises out of Norfolk. She departed Norfolk 19 August to support U.N. forces in their fight against Communist aggression in Korea. MISSOURI joined the U.N. just west of Kyushu 14 September, becoming flagship of Rear Adm. A. E. Smith. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok 15 September in a diversionary move coordinated with the Inchon landings. In company with cruiser HELENA and two destroyers, she helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.
MISSOURI arrived Inchon 19 September, and 10 October became flagship of Rear Adm. J. M. Higgins, commander, Cruiser Division 5. She arrived Sasebo 14 October, where she became flagship of Vice Adm. A. D. Struble, Commander, 7th Fleet. After screening carrier VALLEY FORGE along the east coast of Korea, she conducted bombardment missions 12 to 26 October in the Chonjin and Tanchon areas, and at Wonsan. After again screening carriers eastward of Wonsan she moved into Hungnam 23 December to provide gunfire support about the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops, the U.S. 3d Infantry Division, were evacuated by way of the sea on Christmas Eve.
MISSOURI conducted additional operations with carriers and systematic 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 Norfolk 27 April became flagship of Rear Adm. J. L. Holloway, Jr., commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. Summer 1951 she engaged in two midshipman training cruises to northern Europe. MISSOURI entered Norfolk Naval Ship yard 18 October for overhaul 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 11 September and arrived Yokosuka 17 October. She broke the flag of Vice Adm. J. J. Clark, commander of the 7th Fleet, 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 15 October through 2 January 1953.
MISSOURI put in to Inchon 5 January 1953 and sailed thence to Sasebo, Japan. Gen. Mark Clark, Commander in Chief, U.N. Command, and Adm. Sir Guy Russell, RN, 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 in direct support of troops ashore. Repeated strikes against Wonsan, Tanchon, 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 26 March, when her commanding officer Capt. Warner R. Edsall suffered a fatal heart attack while conning her through the submarine net at Sasebo. She was relieved as 7th Fleet flagship 6 April by battleship NEW JERSEY.
MISSOURI departed Yokosuka 7 April and arrived Norfolk 4 May, to become flagship for Rear Adm. E. T. Woolridge, commander, Battleship-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 Adm. 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 23d for inactivation on the west coast. After calls at Long Beach and San Francisco, MISSOURI arrived Seattle 15 September. Three days later she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she decommissioned 26 February 1955, entering the Bremerton group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Although now in reserve, "Mighty Mo" remains very much a part of the Navy and is a popular center of attention at Bremerton. Each year approximately 100,000 visitors board her.
Summer 1984 reactivated and towed by the salvage and rescue ship USS BEAUFORT to the Long Beach Naval Yard, to undergo modernization before she was recommissioned.
During the modernization MISSOURI had her obsolete armament removed: 20mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, and four of her ten 5 inch guns mounts.
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 launchers (ABL) mounts for 32BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and a quartet of Phalanx Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS) for defense against enemy anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft. Also included in her modernization were upgrades to radar and fire control systems s for her guns and missiles, and improved electronic warfare capabilities. During the modernization Missouri's 800 lb (360 kg) bell, which had been removed from the battleship and sent to Jefferson City, Missouri for sesquicentennial celebrations in the state, was formally returned to the battleship in advance of her recommissioning. 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."
Four months later MISSOURI departed from her new home port of Long Beach for an around-the-world cruise, visiting Hawaii, Australia and Tasmania, Diego Garcia, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Panama. MISSOURI became the first battleship to Circumnavigate the globe since Theodor Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” 80 years before - a fleet which included the first battleship named USS MISSOURI, BB-11.
Crewmen man the rails as MISSOURI formally recommissions in San Francisco, California
In 1987, MISSOURI was outfitted with 40 mm grenade launchers and 25 mm chain guns and sent to take part in Operation Earnest Will l, 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 Boghammar cigarette boats operating in the Persian Gulf at the time. On 25 July, the ship departed on a six-month deployment to the Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea. She spent more than 100 continuous days at sea in a hot, tense environment - a striking contrast to her 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 missiles 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.
In the early months of 1989, Missouri was in the Long Be4ach Naval Shipyard for routine maintenance. A few months later she departed for Pacific Exercise (PacEx) '89, where she and 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, Korea, and the U.S.
On 2 August 1990 Iraq, led by President Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait. In the middle of the month U.S. 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 Iraq.
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 on 13 November 1990 for the troubled waters of the Persian Gulf. She departed from Pier 6 at Long Beach, with extensive press coverage, 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 naval gunfire support as required.
MISSOURI fired her first Tomahawk missile at Iraqi targets at 0140 on 17 January 1991, followed by 27 additional missiles over the next five days.
On 29 January, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate CURTS led MISSOURI northward, using advanced mine-avoidance sonar. In her first naval fire support action of Desert Storm she shelled an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border, the first time her 16 in (410 mm) guns had been fired in combat since March 1953 off Korea. The battleship bombarded Iraqi beach defenses in occupied Kuwait on the night of 3 February, firing 112 16 in (410 mm) rounds over the next three days until relieved by Wisconsin. Missouri then fired another 60 rounds off Khafji on 11-12 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 Iraqis fired two HY-2 Silkworm missiles at the battleship, one of which missed, while the other was intercepted by a GWS-30 Sea Dart missile launched from the British air defence destroyer HMS GLOUCESTER within 90 seconds and crashed into the sea roughly 700 yd (640 m) in front of Missouri.
During the campaign, MISSOURI was involved in a friendly fire incident with the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate 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 penetrating through a bulkhead and becoming 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 JARRET was reportedly over 2 mi (3.2 km) 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. 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, although there is no evidence to support this.
During the operation, MISSOURI also assisted coalition forces engaged in clearing Iraqi naval mines in the Persian Gulf. By the time the war ended, MISSOURI had destroyed at least 15 naval mines
With combat operations out of range of the battleship’s weapons on 26 February, MISSOURI had fired a total 759 rounds of 16 in (410 mm) shells and launched 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the campaign, and commenced to conduct patrol and armistice enforcement operations in the northern Persian Gulf until sailing for home on 21 March. 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 "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.
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. Her last commanding officer, Captain Albert L Kaiss, wrote this note in the ship's final Plan of the Day:
Our final day has arrived. Today the final chapter in battleship Missouri’s history will be written. It's often said that the crew makes the command. There is no truer statement ... for it's the crew of this great ship that made this a great command. You are a special breed of sailors and Marines and I am proud to have served with each and every one of you. To you who have made the
painful journey of putting this great lady to sleep, I thank you. For you have had the toughest job. To put away a ship that has become as much a part of you as you are to her is a sad ending to a great tour. But take solace in this—you have lived up to the history of the ship and those who sailed her before us. We took her to war, performed magnificently and added another chapter in her history, standing side by side our forerunners in true naval tradition. God bless you all.
—Captain Albert L Kaiss.
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 her to the nonprofit USS Missouri Memorial Association (MMA) of, where she sat in fresh water at the mouth of the Columbia River to kill and drop the saltwater barnacles and sea grasses that had grown on her hull in Bremerton then towed across the eastern Pacific, and docked at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor on 22 June, just 500 yd (460 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 some resistance. Many people feared that the battleship, whose name has become synonymous with the end of World War II, would overshadow the battleship ARIZONA, whose dramatic explosion and subsequent sinking on 7 December 1941 has since become synonymous with the attack on Pearl Harbor To help guard against this perception MISSOURI was placed well back from and facing the Arizona Memorial, so that those participating in military ceremonies on MISSOURI's aft decks would not have sight of 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 ARIZONA so that those interred within ARIZONA's hull may rest in peace.
MISSOURI is not eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark although she 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 she was extensively modernized in the years following the surrender.
On 14 October 2009, MISSOURI was moved from its berthing station on Battleship Row to a drydock at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, where the warship would undergo a three month overhaul. The work will include installing a new anti-corrosion system, repainting the hull, and upgrading the internal mechanisms. Drydock workers reported that the ship was leaking at some points on the starboard side.

Turkey 1946 9/27½ku sg1353/55, scott940/42.
Marshall Islands 1995 75c sg593, scott522, also deck scene of MISSOURI scott 523/4 1997 20c sg913, scott649y. 1997 33c sg1106, scott?
Micronesia 1991 29c sg221, scott138.
Sierra Leone 1995 300le sg2343, scott1804d
Trinidad and Tobago 1996 $1.25 sg868, scott589.
China P.R. 1995 $1 sg?, scott2606 deck scene.
Cook Islands 1995 $3.50 sg?, scott1198b
Maldive Islands 1990 6r sg?, scott1438 deck scene.
Nicaragua 1996 3cor sg?, scott2142h.
Niuafo’ou 1992 42s sg?, scott148l deck of MISSOURI.
Liberia 2002 $15 sg?, scott?

Downloaded from Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)

[aukepalmhof]

China 1995

[Arturo]

USS Missouri

Marshall Islands 2005, S.G.?, Scott: 6886.

[aukepalmhof]

Djibouti 2016 960F sg?, scott?
USA 2019 forever stamp sg?, scott:

On June 11, 1944, the USS MISSOURI (BB-63) was commissioned as America's last battleship. In 2019, the USPS celebrated the "Mighty Mo" and its 75th anniversary with the issue of a new forever stamp featuring an illustration by Dan Cosgrove. It pictures the MISSOURI as she appeared at her time of commission. The battleship served in several actions during her career including World War II, the Korean War, and Operation Desert Storm. The MISSOURI's most famous role was hosting the official ceremony in which Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.

The USS MISSOURI was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard from January 6, 1941, to January 29, 1944. She was the last of four Iowa-class ships commissioned by the US Navy. The ship was outfitted with nine 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 guns, 20 5"/38 caliber guns in twin turrets, 49 Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, and 80 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. The ship measured 887 feet, 3 inches long, could reach speeds up to 32.7 knots, and was crewed by 1,851 men.

As the last great American battleship, the USS MISSOURI represents the nostalgia of a bygone era. She was awarded three battle stars for actions during World War II, five for the Korean War, and three for the Gulf War. Today, the MISSOURI is a museum ship of Pearl Harbor, a fitting retirement for a lifetime of defending her country.

The stamp art depicts USS MISSOURI from a low vantage point almost at sea level, cutting through the water at a moderate speed commensurate with entering or leaving port. Large and imposing in the frame, USS MISSOURI is shown in the disruptive camouflage she wore from her commissioning until a refit in early 1945. Clouds loom in the background, tinged with gold and rose from the sun’s rays

USA 2019 forever stamp sg?, scott?

[D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen]

Tajikistan 2020, 17,60 k.