March 31,1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned.

[Sherman A1]

USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo&quot is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the US state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet&quot , but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991.

Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)

[TexasTowelie]

1. My father was aboard the USS Barrow,

a Gilliam class attack transport ship that fought at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. While they were never in contact with the USS Missouri it is interesting to know the history of those final battles. Thanks for posting!

[Sherman A1]

2. My father was aboard an LST

I know it was in the Philippines and then around a few other areas hauling cargo and such. I did read a report where is was hit once. I don't know which of the big ships it may have been around. There are a few pics left, but they are in pretty bad shape.

I got to see a few of the WWII museum ships through the years and they are interesting to visit, but never the Missouri. Maybe someday, if I ever get to Hawaii.

[TexasTowelie]

3. The USS Barrow

was at the first two atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Atolls. It sustained moderate radiological damage after the Able test and heavy damage in the Baker test, decommissioned in August 1946 and scuttled at Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands in May 1948.

[Sherman A1]

4. My Dad's LST went to Japan for a bit

after the surrender, then to Korea for awhile for occupation duties then was returned to the US and scrapped. I think it was built in Evansville, Indiana.

I came across a nifty book called The Prairie Shipyard a few years back. A bunch were built in the middle of upstate Illinois. Don't recall the town right now, but I believe they were then sent down the Illinois River to the Mississippi, to the Gulf then onto their assignments.

If you get a chance to visit the one that is based in Evansville (LST325) it is well worth doing so and they do make trips around the country from time to time. I have seen it a couple of times here in the St. Louis area. It has an interesting story being returned from Greece by a bunch of old LST sailors.

[Sherman A1]

5. Looked up the Barrow

Interesting story from Wiki, thanks for sharing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barrow_(APA-61)

[vt_native]

6. My Grandfather

died when the U.S.S. Cooper went down off of Leyte Gulf.

[Sherman A1]

7. A lot of good men where lost in those years

I found the wiki page on the Cooper, don't know if you have seen it or not, appears to be a movie mentioned on it. Sorry that your Grandfather was among those lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cooper_(DD-695)