USS Missouri belonged to the Iowa class when it hosted Japan’s surrender ceremony. The class was the United States Navy’s final and fastest group of battleships.
Four Iowa-class battleships were completed: Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin. They were designed during World War II to combine heavy armor and powerful guns with enough speed to escort aircraft carriers. Missouri was commissioned in June 1944 and joined the Pacific war before Japan’s surrender.
The class is sometimes confused with the South Dakota class, another American battleship group that served in World War II. Iowa-class ships were longer and faster, with a designed speed of about 33 knots. Their main battery consisted of nine 16-inch guns arranged in three turrets.
Missouri’s wartime career continued after the surrender ceremony. It served during the Korean War, was modernized and recommissioned in the 1980s, and participated in the 1991 Gulf War. The ship was finally decommissioned in 1992 and preserved as a museum at Pearl Harbor.