USS Missouri BB-63
History of the USS Missouri Battleship
The USS Missouri (BB-63) was ordered for the U.S. Navy on June 12, 1940—the last battleship completed by the United States. Her keel was laid down at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York on January 6, 1941. She was launched on January 29, 1944 and commissioned on June 11, 1944 under the command of Captain William M. Callaghan.
USS Missouri served as temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher at Ulithi in January 1945. As part of TF 58, she screened the carrier group to launch air strikes against Japan. She supported the invasion of Iwo Jima in February before being assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group in March. The battleship screened carriers while striking targets along the Japanese coast, shooting down four Japanese aircraft. The carrier group covered the retirement of the carrier USS Franklin after it was rendered dead in the water by two Japanese bombs.
The USS Missouri participated in the pre-invasion strikes and bombardment of Okinawa before covering the troop landing there. TF 58 sank the Yamato, the largest battleship in the world, on April 7. Only four destroyers remained of the Japanese attacking fleet.
A kamikaze struck the starboard side of the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945, starting a gasoline fire at Gun Mount No. 3. The fire was quickly brought under control, and the battleship sustained only superficial damage. When the body of the pilot was found, Captain Callaghan decided to bury him at sea with military honors, although the rest of his crew did not agree.
On April 17, USS Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles away. Based on the Missouri’s report, the USS Bataan and four destroyers hunted and sank the I-56 submarine before it could damage the fleet.
USS Missouri was detached from TF 58 on May 5 and joined the Third Fleet on May 9. She bombarded Okinawa and supported strikes on Kyushu before riding out a typhoon in June. The storm caused only minor damage to the battleship. After three months supporting the Okinawa campaign, she headed toward Leyte.
The USS Missouri took part in the raids on Honshu and Hokkaido until the second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. She supported the occupation force in Tokyo Bay and was boarded by high ranking military officials for the surrender ceremony where General Douglas MacArthur signed documents to accept Japan’s unconditional surrender. The battleship then helped return American troops home as part of Operation Magic Carpet.
When she returned home to New York City, the USS Missouri offered a 21-gun salute when President Harry Truman boarded the ship for Navy Day ceremonies on October 23, 1945. She was then overhauled at Brooklyn Navy Yard before sailing to Turkey and Greece for diplomatic relations. Until the Korean War, she also sailed to Algiers, Tangiers, the Caribbean and Rio de Janeiro. Although virtually all of the battleships were decommissioned shortly after the end of World War II, President Truman would not allow USS Missouri to be decommissioned. For a time, she was the only U.S. battleship in commission.
At the start of the Korean War, the USS Missouri was called up from the Atlantic fleet. She became the flagship of Rear Admiral A. E. Smith on September 14, 1950. The battleship bombarded Samchok and helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.
In the coming months, she would serve next as flagship of Rear Admiral J.M. Higgins, Commander Cruiser Division 5, then as flagship of Vice Admiral A. D. Strubel, Commander 7th Fleet. She screened the carrier USS Valley Forge before bombarding Chongjin and Tanchon.
USS Missouri provided fire support at Hungnam on December 23 until the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division was evacuated by sea the following day. She then supported operations at Yokosuka before leaving to become the flagship of Rear Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr., Commander Cruiser Force Atlantic Fleet. She took part in training cruises in northern Europe before being overhauled at Virginia’s Norfolk Naval Shipyard. She spent winter and spring at Guantanamo Bay for training exercises before preparing to head back to Korea.
The USS Missouri returned to Yokosuka on October 17, 1952 to provide artillery support by bombarding targets at Chaho-Tanchon, Chongjin, Tanchon-Sonjin, Chaho, Wonsan, Hamhung and Hungnam. She served in “Cobra” patrol to support troop landings in January 1953 before bombarding Wonsan, Tanehon, Hungnam and Kojo. Her commanding officer, Captain Warner R. Edsall, had a fatal heart attack on March 6, 1953, and she was relieved as the flagship of the 7th fleet by the USS New Jersey on April 6.
The battleship returned to Norfolk, Virginia to become the flag ship for Rear Admiral E.T. Woolridge, Commander Battleships-Cruisers Atlantic Fleet on May 14, 1953. After an overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, she then became the flagship of Rear Admiral R. E. Kirby. She was decommissioned on February 26, 1955 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington.
The USS Missouri served as a tourist attraction for several decades until she was towed to California’s Long Beach Naval Yard in 1984 for modernization. Her weapons systems received extensive upgrades, and she was formally recommissioned on May 10, 1986. She circumnavigated the globe on a world tour before being upgraded again to take part in Operation Earnest Will, escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War.
USS Missouri also took part in the Gulf War, launching Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) at shore targets leading up to Operation Desert Storm. The battleship bombarded targets in occupied Kuwait, Khafji and Faylaka Island. She was involved in a friendly fire incident on February 25, 1991, when she was accidentally fired upon by the frigate USS Jarrett. One sailor was struck in the neck by flying shrapnel, but he sustained only minor injuries.
The battleship USS Missouri was used ceremonially after the end of the Gulf War until she was decommissioned on March 31, 1992 and removed from the Naval Vessel Register on January 12, 1995. She now serves as a museum ship in Pearl Harbor, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1971. She received three battles stars for her service in World War II, five for the Korean War, and three for the Gulf War.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.
Sources include:
John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed, “Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences,” Ulster Med. J. 77(3):191-200 (Sep 2008)
Naval Historical Center, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – USS Missouri