Which ship hosted Japan’s formal surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay in 1945?

USS Missouri hosted Japan’s formal surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

The ceremony took place on the battleship’s deck while it lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender there, bringing the Second World War to a formal close for Japan. Allied military and naval leaders witnessed the signing.

Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned by the United States Navy in June 1944. It had served in the Pacific during the final months of the war, including operations connected with the invasion of Okinawa and attacks on the Japanese home islands.

The ship was chosen partly because it was a prominent American battleship and partly because it was available in the bay. The ceremony is sometimes confused with the earlier announcements of surrender, but the ship’s deck was the setting for the legal and military signing, not for the first public announcement.