THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220409
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 58 lines
The mighty battleship Missouri, on whose planking the Japanese surrendered to Gen. Douglas MacArthur to end World War II, will be permanently docked in Honolulu, the Navy said Wednesday.
The Hawaiian city had vied with Bremerton, Wash., San Francisco and Long Beach, Calif., in seeking the decommissioned battleship for use as a nonprofit museum.
Navy Secretary John Dalton said he decided on Honolulu after evaluating proposals from each city.
``This was a very tough decision, since all the proposals were so excellent and impressive,'' he said. ``I'm genuinely sorry the Navy doesn't have a USS Missouri to give to each of these cities.''
The Missouri's teak decks were where, on Sept. 2, 1945, MacArthur and Japanese Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu signed papers ending the war in the Pacific. A portion of the teak is now on exhibit at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, where the ship once docked.
More recently, the 887-foot ship saw action in the Persian Gulf War, pounding Iraq in anticipation of the ground offensive.
The ``Big Mo'' also suffered one of the worst indignities in Navy history, running aground near the Thimble Shoals Lighthouse, within sight of Ocean View's beach, in January 1950. The stranding sparked a lengthy salvage operation.
Since its decommissioning in 1992, the ship has been docked at Bremerton.
Plans call for docking the Missouri on the spot it first occupied when it was deployed as part of the Pacific fleet - opposite the monument to the Arizona, sunk in Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Honolulu officials hope to have it ready for visitors by Oct. 1.
One of four Iowa-class battleships built during World War II, the Missouri boasted the largest guns ever placed on an American ship - 16-inchers able to fling 1 1/2-ton shells at targets some 23 miles away.
Despite thick armor plating, they eventually were deemed vulnerable to submarine and missile attack, and their firepower paled with the arrival of the Tomahawk cruise missile, which can be launched hundreds of miles from a target.
Speeding the ships into mothballs were the increasing costs of equipping and supplying them, and an explosion aboard the Norfolk-based battleship Iowa that claimed the lives of 47 sailors in 1989. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and
staff writer Earl Swift. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
The Missouri will dock in Honolulu, chosen over Bremerton, Wash.,
San Francisco and Long Beach, Calif.
UPI file photo
The Missouri's deck was where, on Sept. 2, 1945, Gen. Douglas
MacArthur and Japanese Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu signed papers to end
World War II.
KEYWORDS: U.S.S. MISSOURI by CNB