Tag Archives: USS Missouri (BB-63)

Flight to Baghdad

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Some 35 years ago today. 17 January 1991. The morning that Desert Shield switched to Desert Storm.

USS Paul Foster (DD-964), USS Missouri (BB-63), and USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) on the horizon at 3 in the morning fire off the first missiles in the opening round of the Iraqi war. Described by one of the junior officers, “It looked like a Roman candle going off on the horizon as the missiles arced over on their way to Iraq.”

Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by John Charles Roach; 1991; Framed Dimensions 34H X 39W. NHHC Accession #: 92-007-J

As for the TLAM slingers, the WWII VJ Day host Missouri decommissioned for the final time in March 1992, just 14 months after her third war, and is a museum on Battleship Row in Pearl within sight of the old Arizona.

Bunker Hill decommissioned in September 2023, capping 37 years of naval service.

Foster?

Foster decommissioned on 14 March 2003 and was turned over before the end of the month to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, as the U.S. Navy’s new Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). Ex-Foster still carries her hull number and recently just underwent a shoestring refurb to keep her in service another five years. She is the only ship of her class, the cursed Sprucans, still in existence.

Perhaps, when the Navy is finished with her, she will become a museum.

As seen against the backdrop of the Los Padres National Forest, the Self Defense Test Ship, formerly USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964), supports self-defense engineering, testing, and evaluation for the U.S. Navy. She is homeported at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, located at Naval Base Ventura County in Southern California. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons/Released)

Woody’s rivet: Birth of the Mighty ‘Mo

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85 Years Ago Today.

Driving the first rivet, during keel laying ceremonies of the future Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 6 January 1941.

The soon-to-be-retired Atlanta-born RADM Clark Howell “Woody” Woodward (Annapolis 1899), then-Commandant of the Navy Yard (second from right), did the honors on this occasion. That fits as he was a salty battleship officer with a Navy Cross and DSM behind him, earned across two declared and several undeclared wars.

He was 63, but not quite done, retirement be damned.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 96796

Future VADM Woody Woodward, while still a mid at Annapolis, saw active combat along with several of his classmates during the War with Spain in 1898 on the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn in the Battle of Santiago. He then went on fto ight against Philippine insurrectionists and Chinese Boxers while on Asiatic station, before, rifle in hand, commanded landing forces in Nicaragua in 1912 (and 1932), Mexico in 1914, and Haiti in 1915.

While XO of the battlewagon USS New York during the Great War and present for the internment of the Kaiser’s High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, he earned a Navy Cross and, called back to the colors in 1942, would add a Legion of Merit and his second Distinguished Service Medal to his salad bar during WWII as the Chief of the Industrial Incentive Service and a trouble shooter for the CNO and SECNAV.

A nephew of Clark Howell, the famed editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Woody cut his teeth in the newsroom there as a lad in 1895 before shipping off for Annapolis and, after he retired the first time from the Navy in 1941, penned numerous articles on naval matters for the International News Service wire, something he returned to once he finally took his stars off.

Retiring a second time in 1948 after a solid 50 years in uniform, Woodward came back to work for the Navy on retired status during the Korean War.

He passed in 1967, aged 90, and is buried at Arlington, leaving a daughter, two grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren to mourn him. His papers are maintained in the NHHC collection.

As for Missouri, she is probably his greatest and most appropriate legacy, with the “Mighty Mo” having the DNA of Santago and Scapa Flow in her family tree due to him.

Mighty Mo Sounding off

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Some 75 years ago this week. The Iowa-class fast battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) fires a 16-inch shell from her forward turret at enemy forces attacking Hungnam, North Korea, during a night bombardment in December 1950. In the background, LSMRs are firing rockets, with both ends of the trajectory visible. This is a composite image, made with two negatives taken only a few minutes apart.

USS Missouri (BB-63) Forward turret fires a 16-inch shell at enemy forces attacking Hungnam, North Korea, during a night bombardment in December 1950 LSMR NH 96811

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 96811

The photograph is dated 28 December 1950, but was probably taken on 23-24 December. She was providing gunfire support for the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops, the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, were evacuated by way of the sea on Christmas Eve.

While the Navy in June 1950 had 15 dreadnoughts on the Navy List (four Iowas, four SoDaks, two NCs, three rebuilt Colorados, and two rebuilt Tennessees), Missouri was the only U.S. battleship in commission. The old USS Mississippi (BB-41) had been converted into a gunnery training ship, re-designated AG-128, in 1947 was still around but in no shape to work a gun line.

Missouri, leaving the Atlantic Fleet in August 1950, joined the U.N. forces just west of Kyushu on 14 September. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok on 15 September in a diversionary move coordinated with the Inchon landings the next day, the first of many NGFS missions.

F4U-4B Corsair of VF-113 “Stingers” over Inchon, 15 Sept 1950, with Missouri under. NH 97076

Missouri fired 2,895 rounds from her 16-inch guns and 8,043 rounds from her 5-inch guns during her first Korean deployment alone. She added five battlestars for Korea to her three from WWII.

Returning to Norfolk in May 1953, she was decommissioned on 26 February 1955 and kept in mothballs as an unofficial museum ship at Bremerton for three decades, while as many as 250,000 visitors trooped her topside decks each year to see where WWII had ended.

She was recalled for a second time in 1984, then in 1998 began her final career as an official museum ship, bookending the wreck of the old Arizona on Battleship Row.

Legends at rest

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New York City. Some 80 years ago this week, 9 November 1945, from left to right, we see the troopship USS Europa (AP-177), the Iowa-class battlewagon USS Missouri (BB-63), and the famed ocean liner RMS Queen Mary at Pier 90. The ancient three-stack Tennessee-class cruiser-turned-receiving ship, USS Seattle (IX-39) [former USS Washington, ACR-11, disarmed in 1931], is to the far right.

Mary had just delivered 11,209 troops back to the States from Southampton, who were taken directly across the river to New Jersey for demobilization.

The Europa, formerly a German Norddeutscher Lloyd liner taken in May 1945 as a war prize, had just disembarked nearly 10,000 troops herself.

Those two were always competitors.

Super BB vs America’s Largest Cruiser

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This great overhead shot at Norfolk Naval Base’s piers, on 20 August 1944, gives a good comparison of two of the Navy’s newest surface combatants at the time. The newly commissioned Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) is the largest ship in the center, and she is flanked by the large (not battle) cruiser USS Alaska (CB-1). Meanwhile, the jeep carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25), her deck crowded with Wildcats and Avengers, brings up the rear while assorted tin cans of the Fletcher, Four-Pipe, and Flush-Deck classes dot the far pier.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-190547

A closer inset of just the heavyweights, fresh off their East Coast shakedown cruises, shows off the 45,000-ton/887-foot Missouri and her main battery of nine 16″/50 guns in three triple turrets and 20 5″/38 DP guns in 10 twin mounts. This compared to the 30,000-ton/808-foot Alaska’s nine 12″/50 guns in three triple turrets and 12 5″/38 DP guns in six twin mounts.

With very similar layouts, one almost seems like a slimmed-down version of the other.

Both ships were fast– capable of 33 knots– and had long legs– over 12,000 nm unrefueled– while armor on Alaska (9-inch belt, 12.8-inch around the conning tower) was only incrementally less than Missouri who sported a 12-inch belt and up to 17 inches in the CT.
However, Alaska, while she would have no doubt proved her worth in the Java Sea in 1942, just two years later was too little too late and was never properly utilized. Hence, this faux battlewagon, used to provide AAA screens to aircraft carriers and deliver the occasional naval gunfire support, only saw six months of active service and was decommissioned for good in 1947. After 13 years in mothballs, she was scrapped.
Meanwhile, we all know Missouri’s history.

Mighty Mo, Stretching Her Sea Legs

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If you have followed this blog for more than five minutes, you know I am a sucker for period Kodachromes and classic warships, so this superb 80-year-old photo essay of the brand new Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) on her shakedown cruise alongside the large (not “battle”) cruiser USS Alaska (CB-1), circa August 1944, should not come as a shock. 

Enjoy.

Missouri In port during her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. USS Alaska (CB-1) is in the left distance, with a K-type blimp overhead. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4523 (Color)

Missouri anchored in port during her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. A K-type blimp is overhead. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4576 (Color)

Missouri was photographed while on her shakedown cruise, in August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4575 (Color)

USS Alaska (CB-1) maneuvers in front of USS Missouri (BB-63) during their shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-5584

40,000 tons at 30+ knots! View along the battleship’s port side, during a high-speed run while on her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4533 (Color)

Missouri’s signal flags flying from her port halyards during her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-14527 (Color)

Signal flags fly from her port side halyards, as the battleship speeds along during her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Note 5/38 twin gun mounts below. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4571 (Color)

The pilot of a Vought OS2U floatplane unstraps his flight log from his leg, after returning from a flight. The airplane is on the catapult behind him. Photographed during the ship’s shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4597 (Color)

Missouri Electricians’s Mate First Class Kenneth McNally and Seaman First Class George Skiratko operate a 36-inch searchlight, during the ship’s shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4560 (Color)

Missouri Fire Controlman Third Class James Tucker adjusts the canvas bloomer on a 16/50 gun while standing on the gun turret’s face plate ladder. Photographed during the battleship’s shakedown period, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4535 (Color)

Missouri fires the center 16/50 Mk.VII guns of each of her forward turrets, during a shakedown cruise night gunnery practice, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4549 (Color)

This looks so crisp and sharp that it could have been taken in the 1990s! “Missouri fires a salvo from the forward 16/50 gun turret, during her shakedown period, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4546 (Color)”

Missouri Fires her 5″/38 secondary battery during a shakedown cruise night gunnery practice, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4550 (Color)

The old man: Captain (future VADM) William McCombe Callaghan (USNA 1918) the ship’s Commanding Officer, on the navigating bridge during her Summer 1944 shakedown period. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4600

A bit of light reading occupies the spare time of one of the ship’s crew members, during Missouri’s shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. His booklet is the Public Affairs Committee publication What About Girls?. Note helmets stowed on the 40mm gun tub shield behind the sailor. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4541 (Color)

WAVES Yeoman Third Class Betty Martin exiting the rear door of a 5/38 twin gun mount while touring the ship in an east coast port during Missouri’s shakedown period, circa August 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Lieutenant Rival Joe Hawkins, Chaplain, leads a congregation of sailors in prayer, during services on the battleship’s fantail. Photographed during her shakedown period, circa August 1944. Note the portable organ at the right, the 16-inch triple gun turret in the center background, and the censored ship (which is USS Alaska, CB-1) at the right distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. 80-G-K-4531 (Color)

The Brooklyn-built battlewagon conducted her cruise down the Eastern Seaboard to the Chesapeake, then left Norfolk after post-shakedown availability on Veteran’s Day 1944, headed to her destiny in the Pacific.

The Last American Dreadnought

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How about this amazing original Kodachrome, snapped 80 years ago today, showing the Iowa-class fast battleship, USS Missouri (BB-63) commissioning ceremonies, at the New York Navy Yard, on 11 June 1944. Photographed looking aft from atop her Number Three triple 16-inch/50 Mark 7 gun turret.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-K-3858, now in the collections of the National Archives.

And the view from the stern with 16-inch gun turret Number Three in the foreground shows crewmen and other attendees saluting the colors, as the ship is placed in commission.

Note the SG surface-search radar antenna atop both mainmasts and the circular antenna for the SK-2 air-search radar on the foremast. Also visible are two Mk 37 gun directors with Mk 12 fire control radar for the 12.7 cm artillery and the Mk 38 gun director with Mk 8 fire control radar (“hedgehog”) for the 40.6 cm artillery.USN photo # 80-G-345692

The last of her class completed (Wisconsin, BB-64, had already commissioned two months prior on 16 April 1944), Missouri would spend the rest of the year in shakedown and spent Christmas Eve ’44 on Pearl Harbor’s Battleship Row on her way to the West Pac to get in the show. Just over eight months past that holiday, Missouri would host the formal Japanese surrender to the Allied Powers in Tokyo Bay, ending the conflict.

Some eight battle stars (three for WWII, five for Korea) later, she was decommissioned for the final time on 31 March 1992.

Opening to the public in 1999, she has been standing guard over the USS Arizona on Battleship Row for the past 25 years.

The Mighty Missouri Painting, Acrylic on Illustration Board; by Robert Adam Malin; 1998; Framed Dimensions 22H X 32W NHHC

Christmas Eve Fireworks Show

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Somewhere off the DPRK on this day in 1950…

USS Missouri (BB-63) Forward turret fires a 16-inch shell at enemy forces attacking Hungnam, North Korea, during a night bombardment in December 1950 LSMR NH 96811

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 96811

USS Missouri (BB-63): Forward turret fires a 16-inch shell at enemy forces attacking Hungnam, North Korea, during a night bombardment in December 1950. In the background, LSMRs are firing rockets, with both ends of the trajectory visible. This is a composite image, made with two negatives taken only a few minutes apart. The photograph is dated 28 December 1950 but was probably taken on 23-24 December.

Bluejackets and scatterguns

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A thin but undeniable thread throughout U.S. Naval history is getting in a little bit of MW&R while underway via some shooting sports, primarily with shotguns. Now to be clear, I am not talking about stubby riot guns used in security and by response teams but rather long-barreled field guns.

While many ships in the 19th Century carried a few such smoke poles for use by hunting parties to add some variety to the cook’s pot, in modern times these firearms have been more relegated to use in shooting clays.

Sidewheel gunboat USS Miami 1864-65: After a shooting trip ashore, officers of the gunboat Miami relax on deck with the hounds, circa 1864-65. Note officer with shotgun and game bag, with two hunting dogs NH 60987

A hunting party from USS NEWARK (C-1) in the ruins of a Spanish building on Windward Point, entrance to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 3 September 1898– although it looks like they are armed primarily with M1895 Lee Navy rifles. NH 80791

NH 119234 Shotgun practice aboard USS UTAH -BB-31, in 1911. Note the mix of sailors in flat caps and dixie cups as well as the mix of both SXS double-barrel shotguns and at least one pump, which looks like an early Winchester

Another Utah 1911 shot. Note the sailor with the handheld pigeon thrower NH 119233

Utah NH 119235

A double-barrel shotgun-armed and appropriately safari-costumed Lt. JG Pat Henry, JR., USN, boar-hunting on Palawan, Philippine Islands, circa 1936. Henry was an aviator attached to USS AUGUSTA (CA-31) at the time, flying Vought O2U Corsair floatplanes, and would retire after WWII as a captain. Note the M1903-armed bluejacket accompanying him. NH 78385

USS Chicago (CG-11): Captain S.H. Moore is seen skeet shooting on the fantail, February 1965 NH 55151

During a lull in Vietnam combat ops in the Gulf of Tonkin, the deck of USS HOEL (DDG-13) becomes a skeet range, December 1966. USN 1119308

During a lull in Vietnam combat ops in the Gulf of Tonkin, the deck of USS HOEL (DDG-13) becomes a skeet range, December 1966. USN 1119308

A crew member uses a Remington 1100 12-gauge shotgun to shoot clay targets during skeet shooting practice on the fantail of the battleship USS MISSOURI (BB-63). 1993 DN-ST-93-01525

A Remington 870 Wingmaster 12-gauge shotgun, two Remington 1100 12-gauge shotguns, boxes of shells and clay targets are laid out on the fantail of the battleship USS MISSOURI (BB-63) in preparation for skeet shooting practice. 1993 DN-ST-93-01524

U.S. Navy Senior Chief Master-at-Arms Robert Goode, left, and Chief Gunner?s Mate Blair Pack inspect 12-gauge shotguns during a Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation program skeet shoot on the flight deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) Nov. 28, 2010. The shotguns look to be Remington 870 Express models. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Russell, U.S. Navy/Released)

Seaman Alonzo Bender, boatswain’s mate (left), fires a 12-gauge shotgun during morale, welfare, and recreation skeet shoot on the flight deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, which is transiting the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

While the ships of the future are still in the artist’s rendering stage, hopefully, they may have a sporting shotgun or two onboard– using biodegradable clay pigeons and non-toxic bismuth shotshells, of course.

Be sure to get your Mighty Mo on

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Best $11 I ever spent at the U.S. Post Office.

Of note, these were officially unveiled in a joint presser with USPS and RADM Brian Fort, commander of Navy Region Hawaii/Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, during a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, earlier this month on June 11.

The forever stamp celebrates the 75th anniversary of the commissioning of Missouri, who was commissioned June 11, 1944, and was the last Iowa-class (and final U.S.) battleship ever put into service.

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