York in the Bay
80 years ago today: The King George V-class battleship HMS Duke of York (17) in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, the day the instruments of surrender were signed by representatives from the Empire of Japanese aboard USS Missouri. Besides the flag of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser (one of five different admirals who flew their flag on her during the war), the Ensigns of four Allied nations (Soviet, French, Dutch, U.S.) were flown for a ceremonial “Sunset.” Note the battlewagon’s two quad QF 2-pounder/40mm “Pom-Pom” gun mounts, her massive four-barreled BL 14-inch Mk VII stern turret, and five smart Royal Marine buglers (center) atop the guns ready to sound Sunset.
Cross, G W (Sub Lt) Photographer, IWM A 30511
Having sunk the Scharnhorst in open combat in the Barents Sea, the battleship was the 8th in the Royal Navy to carry the name. Notably, the chairs the delegates aboard Missouri sat on were supplied by the Duke of York’s wardroom.
During the surrender ceremony itself, a massive flight of Hellcats and Corsairs from the US Task Group 38.1, which was cruising off the south coast of Honshu Island, flew overhead, yielding a much better-known image of the above scene.
