The 70th Anniversary of the Launching of the USS Missouri | Photos

By Steven Hoarn - January 29, 2014

The commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Rear Adm. Clark Woodward drives the first rivet during Missouri's keel laying ceremony at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, N.Y., Jan. 6, 1941. The Missouri was one of four Iowa-class battleships to reach completion. U.S. Naval Historical Center photo

Margaret Truman, the sponsor for the Missouri, readies to christen the ship during launching ceremonies at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, N.Y., Jan. 29, 1944. Looking on from left to right: Rear Adm. Monroe R. Kelly, Brooklyn Navy Yard commandant, Rear Adm. Sherman S. Kennedy, and then-Sen. Harry S. Truman, Margaret Truman's father. National Archives photo

The USS Missouri during her commissioning ceremonies at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, N.Y., June 11, 1944. This photograph was taken from atop her number three 16-inch gun turret. U.S. Naval Historical Center photo

A look at the USS Missouri's main deck looking forward from the stern, Brooklyn Navy Yard, N.Y., July 23, 1944. The Missouri measures 887.2 feet from her bow to her stern. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri sports a dazzle paint pattern, ca. July 1944. Note the OS2U Kingfisher scout plane in flight above her aft 16-inch gun turret. Until May 1949, when planes and catapults were removed, the Missouri could carry 3 Kingfishers or 3 Curtiss SC Seahawk seaplanes. U.S. Navy photo

A stern view of the Missouri underway, ca. 1944. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri fires a six-gun salvo from her forward turrets during shakedown gunnery exercises, ca. Aug. 1944. Six 16-inch projectiles are visible in the air at the extreme right. U.S. Navy photo

Following the first aircraft carrier strikes against Japan, the USS Missouri plows through heavy Pacific swells in company of other Fifth Fleet ships. Note the number one turret turned fully to starboard. The Iowa-class battlehips were designed to escort the fast carrier task forces. U.S. Navy photo

The Missouri conducts air defense drills in this undated World War II photo. Note the Bofors 40 mm quad mount atop the number two turret and the deck mounted single Oerlikon 20 mm mounts. An air defense officer and a lookout in the foreground are viewing the results. U.S. Navy photo

On April 11, 1945, while providing gunfire support off of Okinawa, a low-flying kamikaze stuck the USS Missouri just below her main deck level. No American lives were lost and the fire was quickly contained with only superficial damage. The remains of the kamikaze pilot were given a military funeral the next morning. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri (left) transfer crew members to her sister ship, the USS Iowa, ahead of the surrender of Japan, Aug. 20, 1945. U.S. Navy photo

Gen. Douglas MacArthur signs the Japanese surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Sept. 2, 1945. Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, left foreground, who surrendered Bataan to the Japanese, and British Lt. Gen. A. E. Percival, next to Wainwright, who surrendered Singapore, observe the ceremony marking the end of World War II. Today, a commemorative plaque marks the spot. U.S. Navy photo

U.S. Navy airplanes fly in formation over the USS Missouri at the conclusion of the surrender ceremonies in Tokyo Bay, Sept. 2, 1945. U.S. Naval Historical Center photo

The USS Missouri sails past Diamond Head on her way back the United States at the end of World War II and the signing of the Japanese surrender on her deck on Sept. 2, 1945. Note that at this time, she has already had her hull painted solid Navy blue, eliminating the area of haze grey on her bow. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri passes through the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal en route from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, Oct. 13, 1945. Note the crowd gathered to view the famous ship where the surrender of Japan was signed. U.S. Navy photo

Seated at the same table upon which the instrument of surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay the previous month, President Harry S. Truman signs the guest log on board Missouri during a visit to the ship on the occasion of Navy Day, 1945. Truman had an affinity for the Missouri that stretched back to his daughter's christening of the ship on Jan. 29, 1944. U.S. Navy photo

Ships work to free the USS Missouri after her grounding on Thimble Shoals as she was sailing out of Chesapeake Bay. Although no casualties were incurred during the grounding incident, the Missouri was stuck for two weeks and sustained damage that required dry docking. U.S. Navy photo

Fuel lines hang from the USS Missouri while she refuels the destroyer USS Joesph P. Kennedy Jr., ca. Aug. 1950. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri fires 16-inch shells at enemy positions near Hungnam, North Korea, Dec. 26, 1950. The Missouri served two tours during the Korean War and provided gunfire support. National Archives photo

A stern view of the Missouri in mothballs, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Wash., ca. Sept. 1976. The Missouri was decommissioned on Feb. 26, 1955 and was part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet until her reactivation and recommissioning on May 10, 1986. U.S. Navy photo

The Missouri passes underneath the Golden Gate Bridge en route to San Francisco for her recommissioning, May 10, 1986. During her recommissioning, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger told 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." U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri fires a broadside from her 16-inch guns during a firepower demonstration, ca. July 1988. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Terry Cosgrove

The USS Missouri fires one of her 16-inch guns toward Iraqi targets along the northern Kuwaiti coast during Operation Desert Storm, Feb. 6, 1991. Desert Storm was the Missouri's last hurrah before her final decommissioning on March 31, 1992. During the conflict the Missouri fired 759 rounds from her 16-inch guns and launched 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles. U.S. Navy photo

The Battleship Missouri Memorial is berthed just 500 yards from the USS Arizona Memorial, the symbolic beginning of U.S. participation in World War II. U.S. Navy photo

The USS Missouri was also the setting for one of Steven Seagal's finest movies, Under Siege. Although the movie was set on the Missouri, the USS Alabama, a South Dakota-class battleship, stood in for the Missouri for most of the scenes involving the Missouri. Warner Bros. photo

When the future USS Missouri (BB 63) was launched and christened 70 years ago today by Margaret Truman, then-Sen. Harry S. Truman‘s daughter, no one knew the historic path the “Mighty Mo” would soon embark upon. Just like no one knew that Truman would be president in little more than a year, no one could know that the Missouri would be the site of the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. With her launching on Jan. 29, 1944, the Missouri became the third ship to bear the name of the state of Missouri. Although the third of four Iowa-class battleships to be launched, she was completed after the USS Wisconsin, thus making her the last battleship completed by the U.S. Navy.

In her 70 years, the Missouri has gone through two commissionings, two decommissionings, World War II, the Korean War, and Operation Desert Storm. The Missouri has also been the setting for two movies, Under Siege and Battleship. The Missouri continues her service to the United States as the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where, along with the USS Arizona Memorial, she symbolizes the beginning and end of U.S. involvement in World War II.