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The Missouri and her sister-ships of the Iowa class were the last and finest battleships built by the United States Navy. An additional 10,000 tons added to the displacement allowed the builders to provide ships equipped with the superb 16"/50 cal. gun, and a massive anti-aircraft armament of ten twin 5"/38 cal. mounts, 20 quadruple 40 mm mounts and 63 20 mm mounts. Exceptionally powerful engines gave a top speed of 33 knots, fastest of all battleships. Equipped with modern fire control radars, these ships were the most combat-capable and powerful battleships built by any nation.
Following commissioning, Missouri steamed for San Francisco, where she was fitted out as a fleet flagship. (Missouri became Admiral Halsey’s flagship once she reached the fleet.) Her first combat action was serving as escort for the fast carriers on raids against Japan in February of 1945. This was followed by gunfire support at Iwo Jima later that same month. Missouri shot down four aircraft during subsequent operations off Japan and Okinawa, and was slightly damaged by a kamikaze on April 11, 1945. By the end of the war, Missouri was bombarding the coast of Japan with a battleship group that included HMS King George V. Missouri was selected as the ship on which the surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers would take place on September 2, 1945 and Missouri has carried a plaque on her deck commemorating the event ever since. Following the end of the war, Missouri was in New York for Navy Day celebrations, October 27, 1945, where she was honored by a visit from President Harry Truman.
Missouri remained in the active fleet following World War II and was available for gunfire support missions when the Korean War broke out in 1950, making two tours providing gunfire support for Korean operations between 1950 and 1953. Missouri decommissioned at Puget Sound on February 26, 1955. Missouri remained in reserve for 29 years until May 1984, when she was towed to Long Beach, California to be rebuilt and reactivated. Missouri’s modernization included the addition of vastly upgraded electronics, 32 Tomahawk cruise missile launchers, 16 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers and four Phalanx 20 mm Gatling guns. Her battery of 5" guns was reduced to six twin turrets. Missouri re-commissioned in on May 10, 1986 at San Francisco. In January and February of 1991, Missouri served in Operation Desert Storm, bombarding targets in Kuwait and firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi targets. Missouri was in Pearl Harbor in 1991 for the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, then was decommissioned again on March 31, 1992. Missouri is now a Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, moored at Ford Island. The ship was opened to the public on January 29, 1999, exactly 55 years after her launch. From the Missouri’s deck where the commemorative surrender plaque is set, one can look forward and see the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial only a few hundred yards away. (DBoyer 2007)
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