On 26 February 2018, the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, launched the newly restored superstructure of the legendary “Mighty Mo.” This was indeed a major milestone for the preservation of this iconic vessel. The unveiling ceremony celebrated a four-year project that would restore USS Missouri to its 1991 state during its last active duty in Operation Desert Storm.
It was a complicated task: restoring the superstructure, which rises some 110 feet above the main deck and is surmounted by a mast extending even higher. The work entailed the replacement of some 17,000 pounds of steel; the sandblasting of nearly 27,000 square feet of steel surface to remove rust and corrosion; and applying protective coatings that will improve rainwater drainage and help preserve the structure for future generations. The $3.5 million project was self-financed by the USS Missouri Memorial Association, responsible for the upkeep of the battleship from the sale of tickets without any help from the government.
Michael Carr, president and CEO of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, termed the restoration “a testament to our commitment to preserving the Mighty Mo and sharing her story with the world. We are dedicated to ensuring that future generations can experience the ship as she was during her final mission in 1991.”
The areas newly restored and opened to visitor access also include the Navigation Bridge, comprising a Chart House, Captain’s At-Sea Cabin, Pilot House, and Conning Tower. Equipped with an immersive audio experience brought to life by active-duty sailors, it whisks visitors back in time to December 7, 1991, when USS Missouri sailed into Pearl Harbor to participate in the 50th anniversary ceremonies of the attack. It also provides multilingual text panels in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, making this one of the first museums in Hawaii to do so.
This also included the integration of replicas of two SLQ-32 electronic warfare antennas and a radome among equipment previously on the USS Missouri before its decommissioning in 1992. This brings it a long way toward the realization of the Association’s commitment to historic accuracy in its efforts at bringing Mighty Mo back to her 1991 appearance, crowning this battleship’s 48-year operational history encompassing three wars: World War II, the Korean War, and Operation Desert Storm.
The USS Missouri, an Iowa-class battleship, holds a special niche in history as the last battleship ever built and, in many respects, one of the most formidable. At 887 feet in length and with speeds over 30 knots, the Mighty Mo represented one of the finest examples of naval engineering. Her nine 16-inch guns, capable of firing a 2,700-pound shell 23 miles in 50 seconds, have become almost legendary.
Preserving the superstructure of the USS Missouri is more than just maintaining the physical integrity of the ship; it serves as a testament to America’s vibrant maritime history and a symbol of its continued strength and commitment to the preservation of peace. It is through the USS Missouri Memorial Association assurance of Mighty Mo’s availability to the general public, therefore, that such service and sacrifice by those serving aboard her are duly recognized, with the added advantage of tangibly bringing the past into the present, for future generations to grasp just how pivotal this ship was in shaping world history.