Which U.S. general accepted Japan’s surrender on behalf of the Allies aboard USS Missouri?

General Douglas MacArthur accepted Japan’s surrender on behalf of the Allied powers aboard USS Missouri.

MacArthur served as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and presided over the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. He signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender first for the Allied nations, after which representatives of the United States and other Allied countries signed.

U.S. Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signed immediately after MacArthur as the American representative. Their roles are sometimes confused because Nimitz was the senior U.S. naval commander in the Pacific, while MacArthur held the position of Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers at the ceremony.

The ceremony ended at about 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time. MacArthur’s opening remarks expressed hope that the occasion would lead to a better world founded on faith, understanding, dignity, freedom, tolerance, and justice.