By: Marcia Abramson
It was December 7, 1941 when Japan waged a sneak attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor. This signaled our entry into World War II, and was the day that the USS Arizona was sent to a watery grave with the loss of many American lives. These events were portrayed in the movie "Pearl Harbor" last year. This is sadly reminiscent of the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11, 2001.
On my recent trip to warm sunny Honolulu I left the beach at glorious Waikiki to visit the USS Arizona and USS Missouri Memorials. I could see water gurgling at the site where the USS Arizona went down and was told that even six-decades later these are still traces of oil from the downed ship. The USS Arizona Memorial is an authorized National Shrine supported by the federal government.
The USS Missouri, also known as the "Mighty Mo" is supported by private funding as a private Hawaii-based non-profit organization.
Retired Honolulu executive Edwin Carter, retired Admiral Ron Hayes and retired Navy veteran Harold Estes founded the USS Missouri Memorial in 1944. The group petitioned the Navy successfully for permission to berth the Missouri permanently in Pearl Harbor near the USS Arizona Memorial. In August of 1996 the Missouri Memorial Association was selected by the Navy as caretaker for the battleship with its permanent home at Pearl Harbor.
The "Mighty Mo" has earned an important place in American history. It was built as an Iowa-class battleship designed for speed and firepower and was one of four battleships to be used during World War II. Its keel was actually laid at the New York Naval Shipyard. Its armament included the main battery of nine 16-inch guns and twelve 5-inch anti-aircraft guns. The ship was launched on January 29, 1944 and commissioned on June 11, 1944. It was assigned to the Pacific fleet and steamed into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944.
It is immortalized as part of the force that carried out bombing raids over Tokyo and for providing firepower in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Admiral William "Bull" Halsey chose the "Mighty Mo" to be his flagship for the Pacific Third Fleet during the war's last month. It was aboard the Missouri in Tokyo Bay that General Douglas met with representatives of 10 nations and conducted the ceremony for the signing of the Formal Instrument of Surrender by Japan to the Allied Forces. September 2, 1945 is the date remembered for the ending of World War II and the USS Missouri will stay indelible as the site of this important date in American history.
This formidable ship was again put into service in 1955 to provide heavy artillery support for the United Nations forces in Korea. After this engagement it was decommissioned and mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Thirty-one years later in 1986, the USS Missouri was recommissioned after a thorough modernization and refurbishing. Within five years in 1991, "Mighty Mo" saw action again in the Persian Gulf where it fired its 16-inch guns and launched Tomahawk missiles against Iraqi positions during Desert Storm.
It was on December 7th in 1991 that the Missouri went on its final operational mission leading a contingent of ships into Pearl Harbor to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sneak attack that launched America into World War II.One year later, in 1992 it was decommissioned for the last time. It was removed from the Navy's ship registry in 1995. This made it possible to donate the battleship for preservation as a memorial museum.
The Battleship Missouri was brought to Pearl Harbor in 1998 to be moored 1,000 feet away from the USS Arizona Memorial. The two memorials symbolize the beginning of World War II and its conclusion representing "the bookends of the war."
World War II history buffs are fascinated by the history of this ship, which they shared with me. I learned that it took three years to build the Missouri and 3 million man-days to complete the job. It is 279 feet longer and 11 feet wider than the USS Arizona. It dwarfs the RMS Titanic by five feet in length and 18 feet in width. I was also told that if you were able to stand the ship up on end, it would be 332 feet taller than the Washington Monument. It was actually the last battleship ever built and the most formidable.
I found my excursion to the memorials as a step back in time. ©
Copyright by Marcia AbramsonE-mail: mascribe@aol.com
