The USS Missouri and ships of the Iowa class were bigger and more powerful compared to earlier battleships.
When it comes to legendary American battleships, the USS
Missouri
Perhaps (BB-63) stands out as the most battle-hardened.
Iowa
The class of warships was constructed for the U.S. Navy during the 1940s and saw action across various theaters throughout their active duty. These ships participated in World War II, the Korean War, and the Gulf War as the USS {}.
Missouri
received many battle stars along with Combat Action Ribbons and various honors and medals over the course of its career. Known as the “Mighty Mo” in its time,
USS
Missouri
Since 1999, this revered battleship has remained stationary at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and continues to be accessible for public tours. It gained particular significance as the site where Japan formally surrendered.
The Iowa-class
As tensions between the United States and Japan were elevating pre-World War II, the U.S. Navy conceptualized War Plan Orange in order to prepare for potential conflict. American officials were particularly concerned with Imperial Japan’s sophisticated and high-speed cruisers and capital ships. Since the U.S. Navy’s traditional battleships were slower than their Japanese
Kongo
– class equivalents, imagining a more advanced warship emerged as a key objective. Given that Japan declined to adhere to the Second London Naval Treaty, this led to the prioritization of developing an improved naval vessel.
limited
Thanks to the ship tonnages of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, the U.S. Navy managed to revise the standard displacement limit for battleships from 35,000 to 45,000 tons. This change led to the subsequent developments.
Iowa
-class battleships were larger and more lethal than their predecessors. In terms of
armament
Each vessel was equipped with nine 16-inch Mark 7 naval guns. Furthermore, they included ten 5-inch guns, eighty 40mm anti-aircraft cannons, and forty-nine 20mm anti-aircraft guns.
Introducing the USS Missouri
When the
USS
Missouri
was laid down in 1941, tensions in the Pacific were nearly about to peak. Notably, the
Mighty Mo
was the final battleship to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy. During its tenure in WWII, the
Iowa-
class battleship was assigned to the Pacific Theatre, where it participated in the Battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, in addition to the shelling of the Japanese home islands. In April 1945, a Japanese A6M Zero jet launched a suicide mission targeting
Missouri
. Though the pilot was killed, and a fire was ignited following the kamikaze attack, only superficial damage to the battleship was inflicted.
Following WWII,
Missouri
underwent a hefty modernization
overhaul
in order to remain relevant in a new threat climate. New Mark 13 fire-control radars and other enhancements were incorporated into the battleship, helping
Missouri
maintain an advantage as the
Korean War
emerged. Following its historic arrival as the initial U.S. battleship to enter Korean waters in 1950,
Missouri
conducted bombing operations in the Tanchon and Chongjin areas. Many years afterward and after another refurbishment,
Missouri
Would witness combat once more during the Gulf War.
Following almost half a century of service in the Navy,
Missouri
was retired in the late 1990s. The conclusion of the Cold War and the dissolution of the USSR led to the battleship’s decommissioning. But
Missouri
is still accessible for public tours at Pearl Harbor, HI today.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin
, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter:
@MayaCarlin
Carlin has authored more than 1,000 pieces on numerous defense-related topics over the past few years.
Image:
Wikipedia
.
