Known as "Mighty Mo" the USS Missouri saw plenty of action in the Pacific during World War II and was the site of Japan's official surrender to the United States at the end of the war. Representatives from Japan boarded the Missouri and signed the documents of surrender on September 2, 1945.
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The USS Missouri also saw action in the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War before being decommissioned for the final time in 1992. The USS Missouri arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on June 22, 1998 where she now serves as a both a memorial and a museum. This is a view of the bridge of the ship and above.
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Hey look! It's me on the deck of the USS Missouri surrounded by a bunch of stangers, emphasis on the "strange" part. Who the heck are these people? Actually it's my tour group. Tall people like me are supposed to stand in the back but if I'm paying 10 bucks for the picture I want to be seen so I stood in the front row!
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Here's a picture I took of the same thing, minus all the people. The Main Gun Battery on the USS Missouri consists of Nine 16-inch/50-caliber guns with a 23 mile range with armor piercing rounds. 6 are in the front.
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And 3 of the guns are on the back of the ship pointing the opposite way in case a ship is chasing you and you want to shoot it in the face.
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This little plane below the back guns is a called an RPV, short for Remotely Piloted Vehicle, and was used during the Gulf War for reconnaissance operations. The little black dome under the plane had a camera in it to see what was going on in Iraq without putting any pilots lives in danger.
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The USS Missouri is pretty big. She's 108 feet wide and 887 feet long. That's bigger than the cruise ship I went on. She could also reach speeds in excess of 33 knots, which is faster than my cruise ship could go. This is a picture of the very front of the ship.
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Looking up at the bridge and 3 of the main front guns.
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The gangway you walk across to get on and off the ship.
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A brass plaque in the deck of the USS Missouri commemorating the spot where the instrument of surrender was signed by Japan, bringing a close to World War II in the Pacific.
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A plaque on the wall of the USS Missouri saying who was there when the instrument of surrender was signed.
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Where the crew would eat on the ship.
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How the crew quarters looked aboard the USS Missouri during World War 2 and the Korean War. They stacked people 4 high and toes to head. Don't rise up out of bed too fast or you'll get quite a headache!
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The USS Missouri is pretty big. She's 108 feet wide and 887 feet long. That's bigger than the cruise ship I went on. She could also reach speeds in excess of 33 knots, which is faster than my cruise ship could go. This is a picture of the very front of the ship.