Over 800 U.S. aircraft took part in the flypast during Japan's surrender ceremony.
The aircraft passed over USS Missouri on 2 September 1945 as Japanese officials and Allied representatives signed the surrender documents. The display included carrier aircraft and 462 land-based B-29 Superfortress bombers.
The flypast formed part of a carefully planned ceremony designed to show Allied military control while the war was ending. It also underscored the scale of the air campaign that had devastated Japanese cities and disrupted Japan's ability to continue fighting.
The figure is often simplified in retellings as “hundreds of planes.” The more specific account gives a total of over 800 aircraft, including the B-29s and planes operating from nearby carriers. No Japanese kamikaze attack occurred during the ceremony.