Missouri (BB 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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land, so, too, the USS Missouri took her place in the spotlight where it was said she became an altar of peace as the Japanese signed the Instrument of Sur- render. Thus did this ship assume an endur- ing place in the history of the world. At the conclusion of the surrender ceremony, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur spoke these words: Let us pray that peace be now re- stored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are now closed. At that moment, the sun came out for the first time that day . . . another per- fect ending for a climactic scene in this real-life drama. Upon departure from Japanese wa- ters, Missouri stopped in Pearl Harbor, transited the Panama Canal and stopped in Norfolk, Virginia, where the surrender plaque was set in place. Thousands of Virginians boarded the ship for a view of the spot where the surrender took place. But this was nothing compared to the welcome that lay waiting in New York. The headlines were an augur of things to come: HAIL MISSOURI TODAY , Welcome Waits Surrender Ship , Big Mo, Star of Fleet, To Dock in Triumph Here This Morning. The next day the headlines told of the out- come: Boarding Party Of 75,000 Cap- tures Mighty Missouri. A reporter of the day wrote, New York opened its generous heart to the USS Missouri yesterday and the result left the battle-tested crew of the histor- ic Tokyo Bay surrender ship gasping . . . By sundown, police estimated, more than 75,000 had gone up the gangplanks and stepped across the bronze plaque But the adulation didn ' t stop there. On Navy Day 1945, October 27, while the ship was anchored in the Hudson River a launch came alongside carrying the President of the United States. Harry S. Truman, while signing the guest log, said, This is the happiest day of my life. He then went on to remind his companions that his daugh- ter, Margaret, had christened the ship. Other visitors included Margaret Tru- man and New York Governor Thomas Dewey. At the end of her two week stay in New York, Missouri had seen one million visitors on her decks. Peace on Earth was the message broadcast to the nation from the sur- render deck of the Mighty Mo on De- cember 21, 1945. The music of the 100 voice choir from the New York Naval Shipyard was broadcast over a nation- wide radio hook-up. The next big event for Missouri was a Mediterranean mission. Bearing the re- mains of Mehmet Munir Ertegun, de- ceased Turkish Ambassador to the Above, USS Missouri fires a six-gun sal- vo from her forward turrets during sha- kedown training in 1944. The projec- tiles can be seen in flight in the upper middle right portion of this picture. At left, the ceremony for signing of the Japanese surrender document was held onboard Missouri on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay. Here, General of the Army Douglas Mac Arthur opens the ceremony with a speech. United States, the battleship headed for Istanbul where he would be buried in his native land. The visit to Turkey was a memorable one. The Turkish government issued special postage stamps bearing a like- ness of the ship, newspapers printed special editions and Turks filled every- thing that could float to go out and greet the Mighty Mo as she sailed into the Bosphorus. They couldn ' t do enough for us, Chief Carpenter ' s Mate Fred Miletich of Seattle explained. Why, we asked a storekeeper where a place was and he walked seven blocks just to show us. The official receptions and parties ran steadily the four days the ship was in Istanbul. A contemporary newspaper reported, The Turks treated her as a kind of shrine — a symbol of peace. After they had milled on and off the decks there wasn ' t even a cigarette butt to be found. The honors and receptions continued wherever she put into port — Athens, Tangier, Naples. In Rome, Pope Pius XII postponed his Easter Sunday pub- lic audience for a special meeting with 400 crewmembers because our Ameri- can sons have come to see us on Easter Sunday and we want to fulfill their wish. Missouri ' s next venture into the spot- light occurred when she became the floating White House. On the second anniversary of Surrender Day, the Truman family came aboard in Rio de Janeiro for a trip back to the United States following the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. While anchored in Rio the ship ' s company took part in the Brazilian In- dependence Day celebrations with Mis- souri ' s entire detachment of Marines and two divisions of sailors leading the parade. During the parade we stood at atten- tion in the reviewing stand while what seemed like the entire Brazilian army marched by for four and a half hours, reminisced Margaret Truman. It was a beautiful, even a spectacular show, and the military music was magnificent.

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In 1944, the newspapers heralded the launching of the battleship Mis- souri with headlines such as, World ' s Greatest Warship Is Launched In Brooklyn. In 1986, the newly recommissioned dreadnought was greeted with the headline, Mighty Mo Rules The Waves Again. From the moment she was launched, the history of the USS Missouri has been a drama of adventure and tri- umph. No Hollywood moviemaker could have come up with a better script. January 29, 1944 — the USS Missou- ri is launched. Harry S. Truman, the junior Senator from the State of Mis- souri, was the main speaker. He predict- ed in his speech that this great warship would sail victoriously into Tokyo Bay. At the conclusion of his speech that cold, gray morning, his daughter, Mar- garet, took a magnum of Missouri champagne and gripping it like a base- ball bat gave a mighty bash against the ship. The bottle broke but nothing else happened. It seemed to have a mind of its own and was not in the mood for launch- ing, Margaret Truman related. Since a great deal of the superstruc- ture was in place, it was the heaviest ship ever launched at that time. Playfully, the college student put her hand on the bow and gave the ship a shove. Miraculously, at that moment, the ship began to slide down the ways. Just as she struck the water, the sun came out for the first time that day. A perfect ending for the first scene in this real-life drama. It had been only three years from the time the keel was laid at the New York Naval Shipyard. This was to be the last battleship built by the United States, but her destiny called her to be more than a warship. At the ship ' s first commissioning, June 11, 1944, James V. Forrestal, the Secretary of the Navy, sent the battle- wagon into action with these simple, but prophetic words, Good luck, good hunting, God bless you and may you come back soon. November 10, 1944 — USS Missouri was underway for the Pacific. Her last port in the United States was San Fran- cisco, a city that would be selected as the ship ' s home port in the ' 80s. USS Missouri reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet on Christmas Eve, 1944. To the soldiers, sailors and Ma- rines throughout the Pacific theater of war, this was more than a battlewagon. This was Santa Claus and a taste of home. Every available space on the ship was crammed with mailbags bringing Christmas greetings and packages from loved ones back in the U.S.A. What followed is recorded in the rib- bons now painted on her superstruc- ture. She received three battle stars. The first for the Iwo Jima Operations, the second for Okinawa Sunto Oper- ations and the third for Third Fleet Op- erations against Japan. The Iwo Jima Operations included raids against Honshu and the Nansei Shore as well as the final assault and occupation of Iwo Jima in February and March 1945. In March through June 1945, Missou- ri took part in the 5th and 3rd fleet raids in support of the Okinawa Sunto Operation and then followed this with the 3rd Fleet Operations against the mainland of Japan in July and August. September 2, 1945 — Harry S. Tru- man, former junior Senator from Mis- souri, is now President of the United States. The entire world has their at- tention focused on the deck of USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay. Just as the junior Senator, then Vice President, moved with resolute dignity and grace into the highest office in the The Christening Bottle, top left, was used by Margaret Truman, sponsor for USS Missouri, at left, during the launching ceremony as her father, Harry S. Truman, a Missouri senator, witnesses the smashing event.

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INSTRUMENT OF SUKklNOlK n ! f ■ • , Top, suicide bent, this Kamikaze pilot of a Japa- nese Zeke plane tries to maneuver his plane onto the tesk deck of USS Missouri in April 1945. The crash injured no one onboard and caused only minor damage to the battleship. At left. President Harry Truman examines the plaque imbedded in the deck of Missouri. Below, Presi- dent and Mrs. Harry Truman pass down the crew ' s chow line during a Presidential voyage re- ning from an international meeting in South America.