The battleship USS Missouri hosted Japan’s formal surrender ceremony during the 1945 V-J Day events.
The ceremony occurred on the ship’s deck in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. The Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned by the United States Navy in 1944 and was one of the largest and most modern American battleships of World War II.
The location carried symbolic significance. The ship was anchored near the place where Commodore Matthew Perry’s squadron had anchored in 1853 during the expedition that pressured Japan to open relations with the United States. A flag associated with Perry’s expedition was displayed during the surrender ceremony, although another American flag used at the event was sometimes incorrectly described as the flag flown over Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
After the ceremony, the Missouri continued serving in the Pacific before later taking part in the Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War.