USS Missouri, site of Japan’s 1945 surrender, belonged to the Iowa class of battleships.
The Iowa class was the last class of battleships built for the United States Navy. USS Missouri was the fourth and final Iowa-class ship completed. She entered service in 1944 and operated in the Pacific during the final year of World War II.
Missouri’s size, speed, and heavy armament made her suitable for operating with fast aircraft-carrier task forces. She participated in operations around Okinawa and the Japanese home islands before hosting the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. The ship’s quarterdeck became one of the most famous locations associated with the end of the war.
The Iowa class included USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin. Missouri is sometimes described simply as “the battleship” in accounts of the surrender, but that wording identifies her type rather than her specific class. She is now preserved as a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.