On January 13th, Missouri arrived at the Ulithi atoll of the West Caroline Islands in the Western Pacific and became the temporary HQ for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. On January 27th, she was given as an escort to the USS Lexington aircraft carrier as part of Task Force 58, covering the launchings of bombers from the group on February 16th. The launchings were the first offensive measures from American aircraft carriers since the fabled Doolittle Raids in April of 1942 from USS Hornet against mainland Japan.
Next stop for the force was the island of Iwo Jima. American ground forces waded ashore in a vast amphibious operation bent on retaking ground from a determined and fanatical Japanese foe. The operation began on February 19th. The Missouri's 9-inch guns pounded Japanese fortifications on the island in an attempt to "soften" up resistance. The Missouri provided direct support for the duration of the operation and, despite the pounding, US Marines fought a hard and bloody battle to retake the island. The Americans ultimately claimed victory and pushed the Japanese defenders backwards, closer to home waters.
After Iwo, USS Missouri returned with the Task Force to Ulithi on March 5th. There, she was relocated to the USS Yorktown carrier task group where she would once again operate as part of a screening force. The force left Ulithi on March 14th. The objective of the task force was now mainland Japan. The Missouri once again brought her main guns to bear on targets situated along the Inland Sea coast of Japan on March 18th. The force targeted inland positions such as Imperial Japanese Navy bases and Imperial Japanese Army airfields. The Japanese defense included attacking aircraft to which the Missouri crew downed at least four with her close-in weapon systems. The Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Franklin took battle damage in the ensuing action and it was Missouri that came to protect her as she removed herself from the scene. The force moved back to Ulithi before being sent out once more towards Okinawa.
Okinawa was another similar amphibious goal for US Marines and Army personnel to overtake Japanese positions. As such, Missouri and her mighty guns would once again be called to bear down on the enemy. Joining other battleships in the foray, Missouri shelled the southeast coast of the island beginning March 24th. The idea was to focus enemy attention on this part of the island and lessen Japanese resistance along the west coast. US Army and Marines waded ashore in another large amphibious operation on April 1st. During the fighting offshore, the Japanese battleship IJN Yamamoto - sent on a suicide mission to the battle - was stopped and sunk by US Navy warplanes. The loss of the vessel was a mighty blow to the hearts and minds of the Japanese. The Yamamoto was the most powerful and largest battleship ever constructed, fielding massive 18-inch main guns in her turret batteries.
The Missouri was credited with the destruction of various Japanese gun emplacements and value buildings set up by the Japanese military. During the fighting, she also netted another five enemy aircraft and another probable. Additionally, her gunnery crews assisted in downing a further six enemy warplanes. While supplying protection for the aircraft fleet, Missouri took part in at least twelve daylight operations and another four nighttime engagements to ensure the fleet survived, repelling enemy forces as needed. The Japanese, it seemed, could not get past the Mighty Mo.
On April 11th, the USS Missouri was targeted in a kamikaze attack. The Japanese aircraft broke through the blistering cannon defenses and, despite being damaged and her pilot possibly already killed at the controls, smashed into the Missouri along her starboard side near the aft superstructure. A gasoline-based fire quickly erupted but was controlled by the crew within time. Despite the strike, the Missouri only reported light damage. On April 17th, Missouri formed part of a US Navy contingent sent to find and destroy a Japanese submarine. Missouri detected the enemy sub and the force recorded the official sinking of IJN submarine I-56. On May 5th, Missouri was relieved of her task force duty and headed back to Ulithi, arriving there on May 9th.
It was on to Guam on May 18th where Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. came aboard. Missouri departed on May 21st and assisted in offshore bombardment of Japanese forces at Okinawa once more. From June 2nd through June 3rd, the Japanese mainland island of Kyushu was targeted. June 5th through June 6th brought forth a major storm at sea but Missouri rode through unscathed. Kyushu was the target of heavy bombardment once more on June 8th before the Missouri headed back to Leyte in the Philippines, arriving there on June 13th.
The Missouri was back in the water by July 8th with the target of Honshu, another mainland Japanese island. Fleet actions began on July 10th and continued into July 14th. Missouri took part in actions on July 15th and lay waste to the Wanishi Ironworks and Nihon Steel Company at Muroran, Hokkaido. Night actions by the Missouri were undertaken on July 17th and July 18th against targets at Honshu. Navy air attacks continued into July 25th at the Inland Sea with the Missouri on guard against an aerial Japanese reprisal. At this point in the war, the Japanese military was essentially sequestered to their mainland territory - all its gains now in control of the Allies. The stranglehold was in place and the inevitable invasion of the Japanese mainland was in the works - owing much to the bravery of US Navy ships and their crews like the exhibited by the Missouri and the USN air arm - all this to make history possible for the Free World.
However, to prevent further bloodshed in yet another large amphibious assault - this time against the Japanese mainland - US President Truman ordered the use of the Atomic bomb. The first bomb was dropped on August 6th, 1945 against the city of Hiroshima. Still without a Japanese surrender in place, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. It was only then that the Empire of Japan agreed to its surrender. Admiral Halsey received the Knight of the British Empire honor from Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, commander of the British Pacific Fleet, on August 16th aboard the deck of the Missouri. An occupation force was pieced together and Japan was now under the will of the victors. USS Missouri made her way into Tokyo Bay on August 29th, 1945, with General MacArthur's "show of force" display on water and overhead to ensure complete cooperation from the Japanese.
The final surrender was prepared and enacted on September 2nd, 1945. Called to attend were several high-ranking personnel from both sides of the war in the Pacific. This included representatives from participating World War 2 nations including as General Hsu Yung-Ch'ang of China, Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir Bruce Fraser of Britain, Lieutenant-General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko of the Soviet Union, General Sir Thomas Blamey of Australia, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave of Canada, General d'Armee Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque of France, Vice Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich of Denmark and Air Vice Admiral Marshal Leonard M. Isitt of New Zealand. The US was represented by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur - the latter acting as Supreme Command for the Allies. The Empire of Japan was represented by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu.
Knowing the Japanese to be sticklers for discipline, General MacArthur purposely decided to delay the his appearance at the ceremony by some four minutes. He later delivered a 23-minute speech signifying the end of the war under the 31-star flag used by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 upon the American visit to Tokyo Bay nearly a century earlier. The ceremony concluded by 9:30 and Missouri left Tokyo Bay on September 6th.
With the war over, "Operation Magic Carpet" - the returning of G.I.s to the American mainland - was put into action. As such, the Missouri made a stop at Guam to pick up passengers and made her way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving there on September 20th, 1945. On September 29th, she made her way to the American east coast, once again traversing the Panama Canal before reaching New York City on October 23rd. There, President Harry Truman came aboard on October 27th during Navy Day. The Missouri then underwent a much-needed overhaul and took a crew to training off of Cuban waters before returning to New York. From there, she embarked the remains of the deceased Turkish Ambassador. She then left on March 22nd, 1946 before reaching Istanbul on April 5th to return the ambassador to his homeland, delivering full honors to the head-of-state in the process.
After a stop in Greece to maximize American support in the region (essentially a show of force against the spread of Communism) and stops at Algiers and Tangiers, Missouri returned to Norfolk on May 9th before joining the 8th Fleet for training in the Atlantic on May 12th, 1946. Back to New York City on May 27th, Missouri then spent time in the Atlantic, incurring a non-fatal direct hit from a star shell during target practice.
President Truman came aboard the Missouri once more on September 2nd, 1947 at Rio de Janeiro and was joined by his whole family on the 7th, heading back to Norfolk. Missouri then headed to New York for another overhaul until March 10th, 1948. During the year, Missouri was offered provision to host helicopter platforms with the installation of a flight deck at her stern. This involved the obsolete catapult launch and seaplane systems being removed. In doing so, she became the first battleship in history to allow landing of helicopters along her decks. Several years of cruising greeted the Mighty Mo until yet another overhaul from September 23rd, 1949 through January 17th, 1950. While her three sister ships were decommissioned, Missouri was kept active at the behest of President Truman (the vessel was commissioned by his daughter, Margaret Truman).
As such, the Missouri was left in service and continued as the only active American battleship. She ran aground accidentally on January 17th, 1950 near Old Point Comfort. She was not put to sea again until February 1st, 1950 after an operation involving tugboats and luck with the incoming tide lodged the large vessel loose.
The Korean War (1950-1953)
Before tensions on the Korean War peninsula broke out in 1950, Korea was a whole nation. In 1910, belligerent forces of the Empire of Japan exercised control over the country and introduced Japanese culture into the fold. However, following Japan's loss in World War 2, the Korean peninsula was divided into a North and South Korea along the 38th Parallel. The North was controlled by communist Soviet Union with the United States controlling the South. Though free elections were scheduled to be held, the North - led by Kim Il-sung, with the blessings of Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union and Mao Zedong of China - invaded the South in an effort to unite the region under the Communist banner. This, of course, forced the new United Nations into direct conflict with the North, beginning the Korean War on June 25th, 1950. The United Nations was formed by a large contingent of forces from the United States led by General Douglas MacArthur. Many nations were simply caught by surprise by the invasion and many had already curtailed military spending after World War 2 substantially.
American forces that had remained in Japan during the occupation of the conquered nation were immediately pressed into service. Missouri was called to action and sent towards Korean waters on August 19th, 1950. She arrived in Kyushu, Japan on September 14th and was immediately set up as Rear Admiral A.E. Smith's flagship. On September 15th, the guns of the Missouri went active once more as they shelled North Korean positions at Samchock during the UN amphibious landings at Incheon.
On October 10th, the Missouri became the flagship of Rear Admiral J.M. Higgins and on the 14th, the flagship of Vice Admiral A.D. Struble. Bombardment of North Korean positions continued on October 12th and ran through the 26th. The UN offensive was proving successful and North Korean elements were in full retreat, bringing the attention of a wary Communist China into the fold. On October 19th, 1950, Chinese forces came to the support of North Korea and officially entered the war. The offensive pushed the UN into retreat with the Missouri in support throughout most of 1951. On October 18th, 1951, Missouri was back in Norfolk for a much needed overhaul. She would not be back in service until late January of 1952. During the lull in her stay, she worked to train new crews before returning to Yokosuka on October 17th, 1952. There, Vice Admiral Joseph J. Clark was put in her command and shelling of enemy positions at across the peninsula resumed. March 25th, 1953 would see the last off-shore shelling of Korean positions from the Missouri and she was officially relieved by sister-ship USS New Jersey on April 6th. She was back in Norfolk on May 4th. The Korean War never officially ended though a truce was signed on July 27th, 1953 establishing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) across the 38th Parallel. Technically, the North and South are still in an active state of war with one another even today. In a follow-up training cruise, the Missouri was joined by her three sisters - the only time the four ships would ever sail together in their history - before returning to Norfolk in August 3rd.
The end of the road for the Missouri was in sight. She began a long journey to the American West coast by way of the Panama Canal on August 23rd to undergo decommissioning. This became official on February 26th, 1955 as the Missouri joined other mothballed ships of the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington.
Calm Before the Storm
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan was entrenched as Commander-in-Chief of the United States. His administration devised a modernization program to make the US Navy a 600-strong force that would help to keep the peace and support American interests throughout the world during some very contentious years of the Cold War against an old adversary, the Soviet Union. As such, the USS Missouri was called back into action. Obviously, her World War 2 origins were beginning to lose their luster and the old girl was in need of a face lift. She was moved to the Long Beach Naval Yard for due work. During this time, she lost much of her close-in defensive cannons in favor of advanced missile systems such as the Tomahawk cruise missile and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Close-in defense was now being handled by computerized 20mm Phalanx Gatling cannons. Missouri mounted 32 x BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles with 16 x AGM-84 Harpoon systems. 4 x Phalanx systems were installed about her superstructure, noted for their white "R2-D2" type domes. In addition to these weapon systems, the Missouri was given all-new fire control systems, radar and electronic warfare countermeasures. "Big Mo" was recommissioned on May 10th, 1986 at San Francisco Bay, California. Margaret Truman, daughter to the former American president, was in attendance once more.
A world tour soon followed for the Missouri and her crew. For a short time, the Missouri was stationed in the Persian Gulf to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers from belligerent Iranian gunboats in the region. Another world tour was on the itinerary soon after and the Missouri set sail once more before returning to Long Beach Naval Shipyard for refitting.
The Gulf War (1991)
On August 2nd, 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of neighboring Kuwait in an effort to control a vast portion of the region's oil supply. A coalition force responded with the United States in the lead and Missouri was called to the region on November 13th, 1990. On January 17th, 1991, the USS Missouri let loose the first of 27 Tomahawk cruise missiles against targets inside of Iraqi territory. Her guns, quiet since the Korean War, were once again active and shelling inland enemy positions at will. She accounted for 112 x 16-inch projectiles before being relieved by sister USS Wisconsin. Now relocated, the Missouri guns opened fire against Iraqi positions, playing a part in the false amphibious action along the Kuwaiti shoreline in an effort to draw Iraqi attention from elsewhere. At least two HY-2 Silkworm missiles were fired at Missouri with the first one harmlessly crashing away from the ship and the other being intercepted by a Sea Dart missile from the British destroyer HMS Gloucester.
The USS Missouri was involved in a friendly fire incident when a Phalanx system onboard the USS Jarrett engaged the Missouri on accident, apparently tracking and firing at a chaff countermeasure launched by Missouri in response to an enemy missile. The action resulting in the injuring of one of Missouri's crew and little damage other than an embedded 20mm shell in a hallway.
Once the fighting had moved inland away from the Missouri's gun reach, the vessel's time in the Gulf War was coming to a close. She further added the destruction of 15 enemy naval mines to her resume before leaving for home on March 21, 1991. She arrived stateside in April and preceded to train new crew and was used at the 50th Anniversary celebrations marking the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii with then-President and World War 2 veteran George H.W. Bush in attendance.
The Official End of the Road for Missouri
In 1989, the Cold War was more or less over. The Berlin Wall dividing democratic and Communist Germany had fallen and the Soviet Empire broke apart, leaving the former Cold War adversary in shambles militarily and economically. As such, defense budgets around the world were cut to the point that the USS Missouri became one such casualty. The cost in fuel, oil and manpower involved in keeping the armored island-city afloat was astronomical. USS Missouri was decommissioned for the final time on March 31st, 1992 with Captain Albert L. Kaiss at the helm - her last acting commander. She was struck from the Naval Register on January 12th, 1995 and, in 1998, given to the USS Missouri Memorial Association of Honolulu, Hawaii. She was towed to Pearl Harbor on June 22nd and became a floating museum near the USS Arizona Memorial on January 29th, 1999. While the Arizona Memorial represented the beginning of direct American involvement in World War 2, the USS Missouri became the symbol of its final involvement in the world conflict. The "surrender deck" has since become a large part of what draws tourists from all over the world to her preserved deck.
USS Missouri Miscellaneous
The USS Missouri fought under the nicknames of "Big Mo" and "Mighty Mo". She earned 11 Battle Stars for her service in World War 2, the Korean War and the Gulf War. She is one of the most decorated US Navy ships in history, having earned over fifteen ribbons during her tenure. The "surrender deck" used in the September 2nd, 1945 ceremony is located along the starboard bow side of the superstructure and is commemorated with a plaque on the floor deck. On the plaque are the words "OVER THIS SPOT ON 2 SEPTEMBER 1945 THE INSTRUMENT OF FORMAL SURRENDER OF JAPAN TO THE ALLIED POWERS WAS SIGNED THUS BRINGING TO A CLOSE THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE SHIP AT THAT TIME WAS AT ANCHOR IN TOKYO BAY". The Missouri Memorial Association runs a "Battlestations Tour" covering 90 minutes and taking visitors to decks below than those allowed through the standard tour. According to Missouri experts, the vessel is still wholly sea worthy and would need much attention to make her active if need be. However, the resources required to make her active ensure that the vessel will most likely never see combat action again.
The Kamikaze Attack
The scars of the kamikaze strike along the starboard side are still slightly noticeable on the Missouri even today (decorated with an information plaque at the site of the attack). Dents can clearly be seen in the Missouri structure. In the aftermath of the attack, the pilot's body was recovered from the wreckage. Acting Captain William M. Callaghan, recognizing the act from an honorable military perspective, ordered a full military funeral with honors for the deceased pilot. Despite the grumblings of the crew, the Japanese airman was given honorably to the sea.
A Hollywood Star
The USS Missouri played a starring role in the 1992 Steven Seagal motion picture "Under Siege", detailing a fictional terrorist takeover of the vessel for her valuable Tomahawk cruise missiles. Despite her showcasing in the movie, much of sequences used were actually filmed using the USS Alabama museum ship with the USS Drum filling in for a North Korean submarine of French origin.
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