On which U.S. battleship was Japan’s Instrument of Surrender signed in 1945?

Japan’s Instrument of Surrender was signed aboard the U.S. battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

The ceremony took place on the Missouri’s forward deck, where Japanese representatives formally accepted the Allied surrender terms. General Douglas MacArthur opened the proceedings, and representatives of Japan, the United States, China, Britain, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand signed the document.

The Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned in 1944. Its selection gave the ceremony a highly visible naval setting close to Tokyo, while the ship’s name also carried symbolic importance because it was named for President Harry S. Truman’s home state.

A common mix-up is confusing the Missouri with another famous World War II battleship, such as USS Iowa or USS New Jersey. Those ships did not host Japan’s formal surrender. The Missouri later became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, where its surrender deck remains preserved.