About 250 Allied vessels were present in Tokyo Bay for Japan’s formal surrender.
The ceremony aboard USS Missouri took place amid a large Allied naval presence, including American ships and vessels from other Allied countries. Contemporary accounts describe approximately 250 accompanying vessels in the bay on 2 September 1945.
The concentration of ships demonstrated the scale of Allied military power at the moment Japan surrendered. The force included British and Australian naval vessels as well as a Dutch hospital ship, reflecting the multinational character of the Pacific war and the occupation that followed.
The figure refers to vessels present in the surrounding bay, not the number of ships involved in the signing itself. Missouri was the specific ship on which the Instrument of Surrender was signed.