USS Missouri, the battleship that hosted Japan’s surrender ceremony, carried the hull number BB-63.
The designation BB-63 identifies Missouri as a battleship, using the U.S. Navy’s “BB” classification followed by the ship’s number. Missouri was the fourth Iowa-class battleship completed by the United States Navy and was commissioned in 1944.
The ship joined combat operations in the Pacific during 1945. It supported attacks on Japanese-held positions and participated in the Okinawa campaign before becoming the setting for the surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945.
Missouri’s sister ships included USS Iowa, BB-61, USS New Jersey, BB-62, and USS Wisconsin, BB-64. Those nearby numbers are a common source of confusion. Missouri later returned to service in the Korean War and the Gulf War and is now preserved as a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.