On which U.S. Navy battleship was Japan's formal surrender signed in 1945?

Japan's formal surrender was signed aboard the U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The ceremony took place on the ship's deck on 2 September 1945. Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, followed by representatives of the Allied powers. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allies.

USS Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned in 1944. It was selected partly because it was already operating with the U.S. Third Fleet near Japan. The ship later became a museum at Pearl Harbor, where a marked section of its deck commemorates the signing.

A common mix-up is confusing the announcement of Japan's surrender in August with the formal signing in September. The announcement came first; the legal ceremony ending hostilities occurred aboard Missouri.