Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the USS Missouri.
On this page
Battleship, surrender and memorial
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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6 January 1941
Keel laid
Work on the Missouri begins at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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29 January 1944
Launched
The Missouri is launched, sponsored by Margaret Truman.
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11 June 1944
Commissioned
The Missouri joins the U.S. Navy.
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11 April 1945
Kamikaze strike
A kamikaze aircraft strikes the ship’s starboard side.
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2 September 1945
The surrender
The Instrument of Surrender is signed on the Missouri’s deck in Tokyo Bay.
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1950–1953
Korean War
The Missouri serves in two deployments to Korea.
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26 February 1955
Decommissioned
The ship is placed in reserve.
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10 May 1986
Recommissioned
The Missouri returns to service in San Francisco.
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17 January 1991
Gulf War
The Missouri fires Tomahawk missiles in the first days of the Gulf War.
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31 March 1992
Final decommissioning
The Missouri leaves service for the last time, at Long Beach.
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22 June 1998
Arrival at Pearl Harbor
After being donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association, the ship is berthed at Ford Island.
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29 January 1999
A memorial opens
The Battleship Missouri Memorial opens to the public.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.