USS Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship when it hosted Japan’s 1945 surrender ceremony. The ship, designated BB-63, was the last battleship commissioned by the United States Navy.
Missouri was ordered in 1940, launched on January 29, 1944, and commissioned on June 11, 1944. During the final months of World War II, it operated in the Pacific, supporting carrier forces and bombarding targets near Okinawa and the Japanese home islands.
On September 2, 1945, the ship was anchored in Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender. The Iowa class was designed for speed as well as heavy armor and artillery, allowing these battleships to operate with fast carrier task forces. Missouri later served in the Korean War and was reactivated for the 1991 Gulf War before becoming a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.