USS Missouri (BB-63)

## USS Missouri

> “It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past -- a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice.” - General Douglas MacArthur during the Surrender of Japan, aboard the *Missouri*
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The ***USS Missouri* *(BB-63)*** is an *Iowa*-class battleship built for the United States Navy. She is best remembered as the site where the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II. Though her sister, *Wisconsin*, was laid down after her, delays in her construction caused her to be commissioned two months after *Wisconsin*, making her the last battleship to be commissioned by the United States. She served entirely in the Pacific theater of World War II, participating in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, escorted American aircraft carriers, and shelled the Japanese home islands.

After the war, she would remain in service and as such was the first of her class to assist in the Korean War in 1950, where she served two tours. She would then be decommissioned in 1955 and put into the reserve fleet, where she remained for almost thirty years before being reactivated in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program. She would see action in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, providing fire support with both her guns and cruise missiles for coalition forces, as well as the Sol Campaign, providing fire support during the Battle of Tokyo.

## History

Main Article: USS Missouri

**1990s**

Like other vessels of the 600-ship navy, despite plans to downsize the fleet, *Missouri* was retained in the fleet due to the declining relations between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems and later, the outbreak of the Clone Wars. In June of 1994, she was deployed to Japan along with the carrier *USS Forrestal*, large cruisers *USS Alaska* and *USS Guam*, and over a dozen escorting vessels to to assist the *USS Midway* battlegroup with supporting Japanese forces against a potential extraterrestrial attack in Asia.

This would come to pass in the form of the Battle of Tokyo, where Missouri would support the JS Yamato with bombardment efforts of the city center. She would also bear the distinction of firing the last shots of the battle where a salvo of 16 inch shells obliterated a Separatist droid transport shorty before the CIS fully retreated from the engagement.

Post-Sol Campaign, she would return to the United States for refit and an overhaul, which would take until the next year.

**Post-Clone Wars**

With the end of the Clone Wars and Earth’s political situation being relatively secure, the need for a massive naval force became seen as uneconomical. As a result *Missouri*, along with the other three *Iowa*-class battleships were decommissioned.

**Museum Ship**

Attempts were made in Bremerton, Washington to keep *Missouri* as a museum ship alongside USS Washington, however the U.S. Navy wanted to pair a symbol of the end of World War II with one representing (for the United States) its beginning. She would be placed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, overlooking the *‘USS Arizona Memorial’*, with her guns raised to convey that *Missouri* watches over the remains of the *Arizona* so that those interred within *Arizona's* hull may rest in peace. However, despite becoming a museum she was not stricken from the Naval Register and regularly maintained to keep her ready for a relative quick return to active service.

**Galactic Civil War**

## Appearances

* *The Greatest Generation*
* *Return of the Relic*
* *Not So Long Ago, Not So Far Away* (first appearance)
* *Book One: An Uplifting War*
* *Book Three: Return of Legends*