Missouri (BB 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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L, ' YYY ' W is Yi' ,., 1. 'W V a- M 1 -nj ,Q eommmzdoz pmz eww zz, s, W The Missourins fnrst Executive Officer

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Of, THE S LEX .,gXv,AsQQ ..K,, Q jc, isripffgifttsiiisvarsffh . ,, .t c Q CC Roh HE smooth-faced, graying man, talking into the microphone is the' orator of the day. The crowd likes him. He has an infectious smile. No one has realized it quite yet but of all the men in the United States today no better selection could have been made in the hunt for an official speaker for the launching of the U .S.S. Missouri. This man was born in Missouri, his home has always been in Missouri, in the First World War he served as an artillery officer and then he re- turned to Missouri to become a judge and then to represent his home state in the United States Senate. He is United States Senator Harry S. Truman, nationally known for the bang-up job he has done as head of the Senate committee investigat- ing world war expenditures, the famous Truman committee. The job that committee has done is a tribute to this man who sparked its dartings here and there to plug up the rat holes of useless expenditures. This has been a disconcerting day for the senator. His introduction to the sleek, powerful battleship that is to carry the name of his home state into the turbulent corners of a world -at war has had little of the quiet, leisurely touch of an old home week. For one thing, the weather has been unfriendly. For another, tidal conditions have disarranged the program. At the last minute, those who have been squinting expertly at the elements have insisted that the time be advanced for the release of the ship at a moment when they know therefll be water there to float it and conditions favorable for the tugs to grab it and hold it. ltis a big ship, there's a lot of War Bond money invested in it, it's badly needed in the Pacific-so, there must be no slip-up. The senator is smilingly I-agreeable to all the hurry. He is forced to race through his speech at breakneck speed-with the breathless excitement, almost, of Winchell in a news broadcast. The senator has prepared a good speech. lt's a big day for Missouri. He can't let down the folks back home. He has to squeeze in that speech, while skilled hands cope with the weather. He reads swiftly, but easily, with the polished effect of a trip- hammer news broadcaster. . Did you catch that line in his speech? T He said: f'Big Mo, with batteries blazing, will sail into Tokyo Bayf' The crowd cheers. Tokyo is a major public worry at this moment. The senator finishes in time, in plenty of time, in fact for his daughter, Miss Mary Margaret Truman, a bright, smiling typical American school- girl, to swing lustily with a bottle of champagne, as she sings out the

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he Commissioning Ceremonies, held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard name of the new battle craft. The crowd cheers her success as the bottle pops, the champagne showers the prow of the vessel, as well as the pretty fur coat of Miss Margaret. The big ship stiffens, as though it were coming to attention and-there it goes!-inching, sliding, she's off into the Waters of the East River! The U.S.S. Missouri has been launched! There rested the battleship Missouri, balanced and poised, on the waters that How past Manhattan and Brooklyn. Just for a few moments, though, because there was no time to waste. She was to be commissioned as quickly as possible. Before taking' her place in the United States battle fleet Work had to be done. For five years-since 1939, when Hitler blitzkrieged helpless Poland with what he intended as a warning to any other nation in the World that cared to oppose his commands-theU.S.S. Missouri had been on the drawing boards and on the ways in the shipyard. January 16, 1941, the keel had been laid. Her trim steel body was being welded and riveted when the Japanese staged their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. And, now the launching!