USS Missouri was anchored in Tokyo Bay when Japan’s surrender ceremony took place in 1945.
The ceremony occurred on the battleship’s deck on September 2, 1945. Tokyo Bay was strategically and symbolically important because it placed the ceremony close to Japan’s capital while allowing a large Allied naval presence to gather safely offshore.
The Japanese delegation traveled from Tokyo to Yokohama, boarded a launch, and then went out to USS Missouri. The event lasted only about 23 minutes, but it formally completed Japan’s capitulation after the announcement of its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.