USS Missouri Memorial Association Completes Preservation Project in Advance of 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II
The restored aft superstructure 6/12/20: This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. The bloodiest conflict in human history was fought across the globe from 1939-1945. The formal ceremonies ending the war took place on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri, a battleship known as the Mighty Mo. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation will present a Project Award for the preservation of the Battleship USS Missouri Memorial Aft Superstructure at the 46th Annual Preservation Honor Awards on July 22. About the Mighty Mo The USS Missouri was launched in January 1944 from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. After a shakedown cruise and voyage to the Pacific, the ship was moored at Pearl Harbor by December that year. The vessel saw service in the Pacific theater, including support for the land invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, as well as bombardment of Hokkaido and Honshu. After WWII, she was deployed in the Korean War. The ship was decommissioned and placed in mothballs in 1955 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State. Then, in the 1980s, the ship was modernized and returned to service. It was during this period that the superstructure was added that gives her the distinctive profile seen today. The Missouri served in the Persian Gulf conflicts in 1987 and 1991 before a second and final decommissioning in 1992. The ship was relocated to Pearl Harbor and opened to the public as the Battleship Missouri Memorial in January 1999. The USS Missouri Memorial Association’s purpose is to “maintain a national memorial commemorating the end of hostilities in World War II to serve as a lasting tribute to the United States Navy’s role in forging world peace through strength.”[1] [...]