The Battleship Missouri was launched on January 29, 1944 and had a career that spanned three wars in five decades. "Mighty Mo" is an Iowa class battleship measuring three football fields in length. Having been the last, and most formidable, battleship crafted, she was built for speed and firepower, with her trademark feature being the 16-inch guns. On September 2, 1945, the formal surrender papers were signed by Japan on the decks of the “Mighty Mo,” bringing an end to WWII.
The Missouri’s final operational mission was on December 7, 1991 when she sailed into Pearl Harbor to take part in the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It seems most fitting that the beginning and end of this infamous war should stand side by side in the same harbor. Decommissioned in 1998, the Memorial proudly pays tribute to the U.S. Navy, the history of the battleships, all armed forces veterans, and the role than the Missouri played in WWII. Today visitors can walk her decks, tour sailor's quarters, and view the famed Surrender Deck.
