USS Minnesota BB-22

USS Missouri BB 63

Missouri IV
(BB-63: displacement 45,000; length 887'3"; beam 108'2"; draft 28'11"; speed 33 knots; complement 1,921; armament 9 16-inch guns, 20 5-inch guns; class Iowa)

The fourth USS Missouri (BB-63), the last battleship completed by the United States, was laid down on January 6, 1941, by the New York Naval Shipyard. It was launched on January 29, 1944, sponsored by Miss Margaret Truman, daughter of then Senator from Missouri Harry S. Truman, later President; and commissioned on June 11, 1944, with Captain William M. Callaghan in command.

After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in Chesapeake Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk on November 11, transited the Panama Canal on November 18, and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as fleet flagship. She left San Francisco Bay on December 14 and arrived at Ulithi, West Caroline Islands, on January 13, 1945. There, she served as the temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. The battleship set sail on January 27 to join the screen of the Lexington carrier task group of Mitscher's Task Force 58, and on February 16, her aircraft carriers launched the first airstrikes against Japan since the Doolittle raid launched from the carrier Hornet in April 1942.

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

Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshu continued. The Wasp was struck by a suicide plane on March 19 but resumed flight operations within an hour. Two bombs penetrated the hangar deck and decks aft of the carrier Franklin, leaving her dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland. The cruiser Pittsburgh towed Franklin until she regained a speed of 14 knots. Missouri's carrier task group provided cover for Franklin's retreat toward Ulithi until March 22, 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 on March 24, an action intended to draw enemy strength from the west coast beaches, 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 April 1. Planes from the carriers destroyed a special Japanese attacking force led by the battleship Yamato on April 7. Yamato, the world's largest battleship, was sunk, along with a cruiser and a destroyer. Three other enemy destroyers were heavily damaged and scuttled. The four remaining destroyers, sole survivors of the attacking fleet, were damaged and retreated to Sasebo.

On April 11, Missouri opened fire on a low-flying suicide plane, which penetrated the curtain of her shells and crashed just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5-inch Gun Mount No. 3. However, the battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was quickly brought under control.

Around 23:05 on April 17, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles from her formation. Her report initiated a hunter-killer operation by the carrier Bataan and four destroyers, which sank the Japanese submarine I-56.

Missouri was detached from the carrier task force off Okinawa on May 5 and sailed for Ulithi. During the Okinawa campaign, she shot down five enemy planes, assisted in the destruction of six others, and scored one probable kill. She helped repel 12 daylight and 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 at Ulithi on May 9 and then proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam, on May 18. That afternoon, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., Commander 3rd Fleet, raised his flag on Missouri. She departed the harbor on May 21, and by May 27, was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on Okinawa. Missouri then led the mighty 3rd Fleet in strikes on airfields and installations on Kyushu on June 2

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 i 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 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 normal 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 0.843. The Japanese representatives, headed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 0866. At 0902 General MacArthur stepped before a battery of microphones and the 23-minute surrender ceremony was broadcast to the waiting world. By 0930 the Japanese emissaries had departed.

The afternoon of 5 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 UN escorted 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 23 October and broke the flag of Adm. Jonaq Ingrnm, 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 1948 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 Bosphorus 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 gear steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the Davis Straits and south to the Caribbean on various Atlantic command training exercises.

Missouri arrived Rio de Janeiro 30 August 1947 for the In,ter-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 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 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 January 1950.

Here is a corrected version of the passage, with spelling and grammar improvements:

"Around 23:05 on April 17, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles from her formation. Her report initiated a hunter-killer operation by the carrier Bataan and four destroyers, which sank the Japanese submarine I-56.

Missouri arrived at Ulithi on May 9 and then proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam, on May 18. That afternoon, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., Commander of the 3rd Fleet, raised his flag on Missouri. She departed the harbor on May 21, and by May 27, was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on Okinawa. Missouri then led the mighty 3rd Fleet in strikes on airfields and installations on Kyushu on June 2.

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 July 8 to approach the Japanese mainland. Raids took Tokyo by surprise on July 10, followed by more devastation at the juncture of Honshu and Hokkaido on July 13 and 14. 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 July 15 that rained destruction on the Nihon Steel Co. and the Wanishi Ironworks at Muroran, Hokkaido.

During the night of July 17-18, Missouri bombarded industrial targets in the Hichiti area of Honshu. Inland Sea aerial strikes continued through July 25, and Missouri guarded the carriers as they struck hard blows at the Japanese capital. As July ended, the Japanese no longer had any safe 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 on August 9, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped. The next day, at 20:54, Missouri's crew was 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 on August 15 was word received that President Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender.

Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, RN (Commander, British Pacific Fleet), boarded Missouri on August 16, and conferred the order of 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 August 21. Missouri herself entered Tokyo Bay early on August 29 to prepare for the formal surrender ceremony.

High-ranking military officials of all the Allied Powers were received on board on September 2. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz boarded shortly after 08:00, and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (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. By 09:30, the Japanese emissaries had departed.

The afternoon of September 5, Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to the battleship South Dakota. Early the next day, Missouri departed Tokyo Bay to receive homeward-bound passengers at Guam, then sailed unescorted for Hawaii. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on September 20 and flew Admiral Nimitz's flag on the afternoon of September 28 for a reception.

The next day, Missouri departed Pearl Harbor bound for the eastern seaboard of the United States. She reached New York City on October 23 and broke the flag of Admiral Jonas Ingram, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. Missouri boomed out a 21-gun salute on October 27 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 an overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard and a training cruise to Cuba, Missouri returned to New York. The afternoon of March 21, 1948, she received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Mehmet Munir Ertegun. She departed on March 22 for Gibraltar and anchored in the Bosphorus off Istanbul on April 5. 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 on April 9 and entered Phaleron Bay, Piraeus, Greece, the following day to an overwhelming welcome by Greek government officials and the 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.

Missouri departed Piraeus on April 26, touching at Algiers and Tangiers before arriving in Norfolk on May 9. She departed for Culebra Island on May 12 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 on May 27, 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.

Missouri arrived in Rio de Janeiro on August 30, 1948, for the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. President Truman boarded on September 2 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 on September 7 to return to the United States and debarked at Norfolk on September 19. An overhaul in New York (September 23 to March 10, 1948) was followed by refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. Summer 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training cruises. The battleship departed Norfolk on November 1 for a second three-week Arctic cold weather training cruise to the Davis Straits. The next two 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 from September 23, 1949, to January 17, 1950.

Now the only U.S. battleship in commission, Missouri was proceeding seaward on a training mission from Hampton Roads early on January 17 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 the waterline, she stuck hard and fast. With the aid of tugs, pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was refloated on February 1.

From mid-February until August 15, Missouri conducted midshipman and reserve training cruises out of Norfolk. She departed Norfolk on August 19 to support U.N. forces in their fight against Communist aggression in Korea.

Missouri joined the U.N. just west of Kyushu on September 14, becoming the flagship of Rear Admiral A. E. Smith. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok on September 16 in a diversionary move coordinated with the Inchon landings. In company with the cruiser Helena and two destroyers, she helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.

Missouri arrived in Inchon on September 19, and on October 10 became the flagship of Rear Admiral J. M. Higgins, commander, Cruiser Division 5. She arrived in Sasebo on October 14, where she became the flagship of Vice Admiral A. D. Struble, Commander, 7th Fleet. After screening the carrier Valley Forge along the east coast of Korea, she conducted bombardment missions from October 12 to 26 in the Chonjin and Tanchon areas, and at Wonsan. After again screening carriers eastward of Wonsan, she moved into Hungnam on December 23 to provide gunfire support around the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops, the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, were evacuated by sea on Christmas Eve.

Missouri conducted additional operations with carriers and carried out systematic shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until 19 March 1951. She arrived in Yokosuka on 24 March, and four days later, was relieved of duty in the Far East. Departing Yokosuka on 28 March, she arrived in Norfolk on 27 April and became the flagship of Rear Adm. J. 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 the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 18 October for an overhaul, which lasted until 30 January 1952.

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

Missouri left Hampton Roads on 11 September and arrived in Yokosuka on 17 October. She raised the flag of Vice Adm. J. 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 from 25 October through 2 January 1953.

Missouri docked at Inchon on 5 January 1953 and then sailed 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 on 23 January. In the following weeks, Missouri resumed "Cobra" patrol along the east coast of Korea, providing direct support to troops ashore. Repeated strikes against Wonsan, Tanchon, Hungnam, and Kojo destroyed major supply routes along the eastern seaboard.

Missouri's last gunstrike mission was against the Rojo area on 25 March. She sustained a serious casualty on 26 March, when her commanding officer, Capt. Warner R. Edsall, suffered a fatal heart attack while navigating her through the submarine net at Sasebo. She was relieved as the 7th Fleet flagship on 6 April by the battleship New Jersey.

Missouri departed Yokosuka on 7 April and arrived in Norfolk on 4 May, becoming the flagship for Rear Adm. E. T. Woolridge, Commander, Battleships-Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, on 14 May. She embarked on a midshipman training cruise on 8 June, returned to Norfolk on 4 August, and underwent an overhaul in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 20 November to 2 April 1954.

Now the flagship of Rear Adm. R. E. Kirby, who had succeeded Admiral Woolridge, Missouri departed Norfolk on 7 June as the flagship for the midshipman training cruise to Lisbon and Cherbourg. She returned to Norfolk on 3 August and left on the 23rd for inactivation on the west coast. After visiting Long Beach and San Francisco, Missouri arrived in Seattle on 15 September. Three days later, she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and was decommissioned on 26 February 1955, joining the Bremerton group in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

This phase of inactivity was punctuated in 1971 when the battleship was honored with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in the State of Washington, recognizing its historical significance.

The mid-1980s marked a pivotal change in the destiny of the Missouri. As part of the ambitious 600-ship Navy plan, the battleship was reactivated and underwent extensive modernization between 1984 and 1986. This modernization included the addition of state-of-the-art cruise missile and anti-ship missile launchers, along with a comprehensive upgrade of its electronics systems. The revitalized USS Missouri was recommissioned on May 10, 1986, poised to re-enter active service.

Missouri's reentry into operational service saw it play a critical role in several key operations. During the late 1980s, specifically from September to November, Missouri was deployed in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Earnest Will. This operation primarily involved escorting oil tankers amidst the heightened tensions with Iran. The battleship's capability was further demonstrated in 1991 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Notably, Missouri had the distinction of being the first battleship to launch Tomahawk missiles in combat. Additionally, in December 1991, it participated in Operation Remembrance in Hawaii, marking the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, a poignant moment that tied back to its historical significance.

However, this period of renewed activity was not to last. On March 31, 1992, Missouri was decommissioned for the second and final time. Subsequently, it was removed from the Navy's ship registry. The next chapter in Missouri's storied history began in 1996 when the USS Missouri Memorial Association was selected to receive the decommissioned battleship. By June 1998, Missouri made its way to Waikiki, and by January 29, 1999, a new phase of its life commenced as it opened to the public as the Battleship Missouri Memorial. Located on Battleship Row, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, the Missouri now serves as a living museum, offering a tangible connection to the past and a solemn reminder of the ship's historical importance and the broader narrative of naval warfare and diplomacy.

Missouri received three battle stars for her service in World War II and five for her service in Korea.