Yesterday, on January 29, 2015, we passed the 71st anniversary of the launching of the third Iowa Class battleship, the USS Missouri, BB-63, which was launched on January 29, 1944, and then commissioned in June of 1944. (NOTE: See MANY more high res pictures of the entire history of the USS Missouri at my )
The USS Missouri at her launch in January 1944
The Iowa class battleships were the largest US Battleships ever built and commissioned (a7 45,000 tons) as well as the most heavily armed with nine 16" guns, twenty 5" guns, 80 40mm guns, and 50 20mm guns. They were heavily armored, but also very fast, able to sustain cruising speeds 32.5 knots.
The USS Missouri en route to the Pacific after her commissioning
After launching, the Missouri made her way into the Pacific Ocean and arrived there in time to participate in the Iwo Jima Operation, the Okinawa Operation, and conducted raids and shelling of the main Japanese islands of Kyūshū , Hokkaidō, and Honshū.
While off of Okinawa in April of 1945, she fought off many waves of Japanese Kamikaze attackers while protecting US Navy aircraft carriers and other vessels. She was hit by a Japanese Zeke kamikaze on April 12, 1945. The attached 500 lb. bomb failed to detonate and so the damage was minor and injureies light. There were not fatalities. The dent in her side, however, is visible to this day.
Japanese Zeke Kamikaze about to impact the USS Missouri
She was most famous for being the flagship where Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal Japanese unconditional surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri on September 2,1945.
She later fought in the Korean War, once again using her massive weaponry in support of US armed forces ashore and targeting various enemy positions and installations.
The USS Missouri in night action during the Korean War
She was decommissioned and placed in reserve in 1955.
But, during the naval buildup of the 1980s by US President Ronald Reagan, she and all of her sister ships were modernized. The process took two years for each where their sensors and electronics were all updated, including their fire control for those 16" guns, which they retained. Half of the twenty 5" guns were removed and they had the following modern weaponry installed with all of the necessary sensors:
32 x Tomahawk land attack missiles in armored box launchers.
15 x Harpoon anti-ship missiles in four quad launchers.
04 x Phalanx 20mm CIWS
Aft they were also outfitted to land and refuel up to four Seahawk helicopters.
The new battleships were used extensively in the 1980s and early 1990s. They were involved in combat off of Lebanon and in Desert Strom.
The USS Missouri fired 759 16" projectiles and 28 Tomahawk missiles at Iraqi position in Desert Strom.
USS Missouri firing a Tomahawk missile during operation Desert Storm
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Iowa Class were decommissioned once more. By Act of Congress they are to remain in a readiness state such that they could be recalled if necessary. At this point that is highly unlikely.
The USS Missouri was decommissioned in 1992 and struck in 1995. She is now a Museum ship at Perl Harbor adjacent to the USS Arizona memorial, which is fitting.
The USS Arizona memorial is the US battleship that was destroyed on the opening day of the war, December 7.1941, and the USS Missouri is the battleship where the unconditional surrender of the Japanese was accepted in September 1945.
USS Missouri berthed as a Museum Ship at Pearl Harbor
The USS Missouri at her launch in January 1944
The USS Missouri en route to the Pacific after her commissioning
While off of Okinawa in April of 1945, she fought off many waves of Japanese Kamikaze attackers while protecting US Navy aircraft carriers and other vessels. She was hit by a Japanese Zeke kamikaze on April 12, 1945. The attached 500 lb. bomb failed to detonate and so the damage was minor and injureies light. There were not fatalities. The dent in her side, however, is visible to this day.
Japanese Zeke Kamikaze about to impact the USS Missouri
She was most famous for being the flagship where Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal Japanese unconditional surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri on September 2,1945.
She later fought in the Korean War, once again using her massive weaponry in support of US armed forces ashore and targeting various enemy positions and installations.
The USS Missouri in night action during the Korean War
She was decommissioned and placed in reserve in 1955.
But, during the naval buildup of the 1980s by US President Ronald Reagan, she and all of her sister ships were modernized. The process took two years for each where their sensors and electronics were all updated, including their fire control for those 16" guns, which they retained. Half of the twenty 5" guns were removed and they had the following modern weaponry installed with all of the necessary sensors:
32 x Tomahawk land attack missiles in armored box launchers.
15 x Harpoon anti-ship missiles in four quad launchers.
04 x Phalanx 20mm CIWS
Aft they were also outfitted to land and refuel up to four Seahawk helicopters.
The new battleships were used extensively in the 1980s and early 1990s. They were involved in combat off of Lebanon and in Desert Strom.
The USS Missouri fired 759 16" projectiles and 28 Tomahawk missiles at Iraqi position in Desert Strom.
USS Missouri firing a Tomahawk missile during operation Desert Storm
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Iowa Class were decommissioned once more. By Act of Congress they are to remain in a readiness state such that they could be recalled if necessary. At this point that is highly unlikely.
The USS Missouri was decommissioned in 1992 and struck in 1995. She is now a Museum ship at Perl Harbor adjacent to the USS Arizona memorial, which is fitting.
The USS Arizona memorial is the US battleship that was destroyed on the opening day of the war, December 7.1941, and the USS Missouri is the battleship where the unconditional surrender of the Japanese was accepted in September 1945.
USS Missouri berthed as a Museum Ship at Pearl Harbor
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