The 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony was held aboard USS Missouri.
The U.S. Navy battleship was anchored in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on its deck, formally ending hostilities with the Allied powers.
General Douglas MacArthur opened the ceremony, and Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government. The ship was chosen partly because it was a prominent American battleship and partly because the ceremony needed a large, secure naval platform.
A common mix-up is confusing the surrender announcement with the formal signing. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's decision by radio on 15 August, but the legal surrender document was signed aboard Missouri on 2 September.