Iowa Class Battleship: Displacement 45,000 Tons, Dimensions, 887' 3" (oa) x 108' 2" x 37' 9" (Max). Armament 9 x 16"/50 20 x 5"/38AA, 80 x 40mm 49 x 20mm, 3 AC. Armor, 12 1/8" Belt, 17" Turrets, 1 1/2" +6" +5/8" Decks, 17 1/4" Conning Tower. Machinery, 212,000 SHP; G.E. Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 33 Knots, Crew 1921. Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Naval Ship Yard, January 6, 1941. Launched January 29, 1944. Commissioned June 11, 1944. Decommissioned February 26, 1955. Recommissioned May 10, 1986. Decommissioned March 31, 1992. Stricken for disposal January 12, 1995. Donated for preservation May 4, 1998. Fate: Preserved as a museum at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, June 1998.
Description
Activated as part of the Navy's new Maritime Strategy, which was intended to send offense-oriented aircraft carrier and battleship task groups into Soviet waters in the event of a future global conflict, Missouri conducted refresher and fleet operations training until departing 10 September for a circumnavigation of the world, the first voyage by an American battleship since the Great White Fleet of 1907-09. Following a stop at Pearl Harbor, she visited Sydney, Hobart, Albany and Fremantle, Australia, in October before sailing on to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The battleship then transited the Suez Canal on 7 November and sailed north to Istanbul, Turkey, arriving there on 11 November to mark the 40th anniversary of her previous trip to that city in 1947. The battleship then made diplomatic port visits at Naples, Italy; Palma, Spain; and Lisbon, Portugal; before crossing the Atlantic in early December. She transited the Panama Canal on the 10th and arrived home in Long Beach on 19 December.