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USS Missouri

Here it is at last - 'Mighty Mo', the USS Missouri, a piece of history. Of course you'll all know that it was aboard the Missouri in 1945 that General MacArthur accepted the unconditional surrender of Japan, bringing to a close the Second World War. She also served in the Korean War and was then decommissioned. In 1980 the USS Missouri, along with sister ships USS New Jersey, USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin, was recommissioned and served in the Gulf War. Due to the cost of keeping her running, about a million dollars every two weeks, she was decommissioned again in 1996.

She's been sitting up at Bremerton (Near Seattle, WA) for the past couple of years, having been removed from the active ships register. Now she's on her way to Hawaii, to be a floating museum at Pearl Harbor on Battleship Row. If you want to read more about her then check out Guy Derdall's page on the Iowa class battleships, or check out his whole warships site. He has a fascinating collection of info and pics of all sorts of warships. You might even see some of these pics over there...

All pictures were taken while she was in Astoria (very north west Oregon), before being towed to Hawaii. She was there to kill off all the sealife attached to her hull after sitting in Bremerton. Astoria is a fresh water harbour which kills off the salt water creatures. Access was very limited - only to the forward section from approximately midships to the anchor winches, just aft of the tall structure on the bow. The whole ship had been sealed, and no access was permitted inside. She was in Astoria for 6 days, open to the public for 5, and in the time there around 60,000 people visited her. The waiting time was normally around 3 hours, but well worth the wait.

The starboard side from midships to aft. There was a platform on the dock which gave a better view than ground level. A bit too close to get the whole ship in the picture, even though the camera has a wide angle lens.

A closer view of one of the 5inch gun turrets and the frame (I believe) for the lifeboat (the goalpost type frame with the rungs on the aft side). It was hinged at the bottom and had some sort of hydraulic ramm near the bottom corner. Obviously designed to lean out over the side, hence my assumption.

A closer view of the bridge area with 5inch turret. The colored flags are ribbons won for service. The 'E' is a proficiency award, and each bar underneath represents a subsequent award. I'm not sure what the construct immediately above the ribbons are. There was one forward, 1 starboard midships/aft, and, I assume, a matching one port midships/aft. They look like they were something to do with gun/target control. Perhaps someone could inform me?

This was painted on the starboard side on no. 2 main turret. It is a map of the Gulf area during the Kuwait/Iraq war, where she served. The white marks on the map signify the targets bombarded, the shells the number of bombardment missions, and the number is the number of shells fired. At 2,700 lbs per shell, that's a lot of metal!

This one is taken from pretty much as far forward as was allowed, looking aft to the two 16inch turrets. Pity there are so many people about, but it was very busy.

This is the Surrender Seal, the seal that marks the spot where the Japanese surrender was signed to bring the Second World War to a close. Unfortunately it is covered in a plexiglass dome, which was a bit steamed up in the heat, and all you could see was reflection.

Here's a photo of the Seal without the cover. Thanks to Guy Derdall for permission to use it.

A closer view of the markings on the bridge, this time from the port side. The black symbols aft represent mines destroyed during the Gulf War. I'm not sure what the other symbols are. There was a commentator on the PA system while queueing giving out snippets of information about her, as well as keeping the crowd amused with his asides when looking for lost parents, etc. It kept everyone in good humor, and considering the number of people and the wait everyone was very good natured about the whole thing.

A final look back at the USS Missouri.

Overall, she was a lot smaller than I expected, but I suppose with 17inch armor plating she was very solid. Compact and bijou, Mosstyn (British tv joke). Now we both want to go to Hawaii to see more of her. And Hawaii as well...

These were the best of the photos, here are the rest.

	The starboard side from midships to aft. There was a platform on the dock which gave a better view than ground level. A bit too close to get the whole ship in the picture, even though the camera has a wide angle lens.
	A closer view of one of the 5inch gun turrets and the frame (I believe) for the lifeboat (the goalpost type frame with the rungs on the aft side). It was hinged at the bottom and had some sort of hydraulic ramm near the bottom corner. Obviously designed to lean out over the side, hence my assumption.
	A closer view of the bridge area with 5inch turret. The colored flags are ribbons won for service. The 'E' is a proficiency award, and each bar underneath represents a subsequent award. I'm not sure what the construct immediately above the ribbons are. There was one forward, 1 starboard midships/aft, and, I assume, a matching one port midships/aft. They look like they were something to do with gun/target control. Perhaps someone could inform me?
	This was painted on the starboard side on no. 2 main turret. It is a map of the Gulf area during the Kuwait/Iraq war, where she served. The white marks on the map signify the targets bombarded, the shells the number of bombardment missions, and the number is the number of shells fired. At 2,700 lbs per shell, that's a lot of metal!
	This one is taken from pretty much as far forward as was allowed, looking aft to the two 16inch turrets. Pity there are so many people about, but it was very busy.
	This is the Surrender Seal, the seal that marks the spot where the Japanese surrender was signed to bring the Second World War to a close. Unfortunately it is covered in a plexiglass dome, which was a bit steamed up in the heat, and all you could see was reflection.
	Here's a photo of the Seal without the cover. Thanks to Guy Derdall for permission to use it.
	A closer view of the markings on the bridge, this time from the port side. The black symbols aft represent mines destroyed during the Gulf War. I'm not sure what the other symbols are. There was a commentator on the PA system while queueing giving out snippets of information about her, as well as keeping the crowd amused with his asides when looking for lost parents, etc. It kept everyone in good humor, and considering the number of people and the wait everyone was very good natured about the whole thing.
	A final look back at the USS Missouri.