USS Missouri has served proudly through WWII, the Korean War, and the Gulf War for a 51-year long career. Launched from the Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn in 1944, USS Missouri entered the Pacific Theatre in early 1945. She participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She joined in on air strikes and shore bombardment on mainland Japan. Most famously, the battleship hosted the surrender ceremony of Japan on 2 September 1945.
USS Missouri returned to the Pacific for the Korean War. Deployed from September 1950 to March 1951 and again from September 1952 to March 1953, the battleship supported the final days of the Battle of Inchon by providing shore bombardment and was present for the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, providing fire cover for the Marines. Throughout the war, she steamed with and provided anti-aircraft cover for aircraft carriers in their task force in addition to bombarding Korea’s coastline.
Decommissioned in 1955, the battleship found new life in 1986. She participated in Operation Earnest Will in the Middle East, escorting Kuwaiti tankers flying under the U.S. flag. In the 1990s, Missouri returned to the Middle East to bombard Iraqi forces in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and participated in the Battle of Kafji.
In 1992, the battleship was decommissioned for a final time. In 1998, she opened her water-tight doors again as a historic museum.
