On which warship did Japan formally sign its World War II surrender in 1945?

Japan formally signed its World War II surrender aboard the USS Missouri. The ceremony took place on the battleship’s forward deck in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

The Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned by the United States Navy in 1944. Its selection gave the ceremony a powerful symbolic setting: the ship represented American naval strength, while the location placed the event close to Japan’s capital.

General Douglas MacArthur presided over the ceremony, and representatives of Japan and the Allied powers signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The signing lasted about 23 minutes and was broadcast internationally.

The Missouri is sometimes confused with other famous Pacific War ships, including the USS Enterprise and USS Arizona. Unlike those vessels, Missouri was the site of Japan’s formal surrender ceremony and later became a museum ship in Pearl Harbor.