USS Missouri, where Japan signed its formal surrender in 1945, was a battleship.
Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States Navy and belonged to the Iowa class. Its hull number was BB-63, with “BB” being the U.S. Navy classification for a battleship.
The ship entered service in June 1944 and operated in the Pacific during the final stages of World War II. It supported attacks on Japanese positions and took part in operations around Okinawa and the Japanese home islands.
On September 2, 1945, Missouri served as the setting for the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The ceremony occurred on the ship’s deck in Tokyo Bay, not in a government building or on land. Missouri later served in the Korean War and was recommissioned for the 1991 Gulf War before becoming a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.