Japan signed the formal surrender ending World War II aboard the USS Missouri. The ceremony took place on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay, making the battleship one of the most important locations associated with the war’s conclusion.
The Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned by the United States Navy in 1944. Its selection connected the ceremony to President Harry S. Truman, who came from Missouri. The ship’s deck provided space for Japanese and Allied representatives, military observers, and international journalists.
General Douglas MacArthur presided as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijirō Umezu signed for Japan, followed by representatives of the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
The event is sometimes confused with Japan’s surrender announcement on 15 August, which was broadcast in Japan after Emperor Hirohito accepted the Allied terms. The signing aboard Missouri was the later legal and ceremonial act that formally ended hostilities.