Completed in , she is the last battleship commissioned by the United States. On 17 January the ship ran aground during high tide in Chesapeake Bay and after great effort was re-floated several weeks later. She later fought in the Korean War during two tours between and Missouri was the first American battleship to arrive in Korean waters and served as the flagship for several admirals. The battleship took part in numerous shore bombardment operations and also served in a screening role for aircraft carriers.
Missouri was decommissioned in and transferred to the reserve fleet also known as the "Mothball Fleet". Missouri was reactivated and modernized in as part of the ship Navy plan. Cruise missile and anti-ship missile launchers were added along with updated electronics.
The ship served in the Persian Gulf escorting oil tankers during threats from Iran, often while keeping her fire-control systems trained on land-based Iranian missile launchers. She served in Operation Desert Storm in including providing fire support.
Missouri was again decommissioned in , but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in The Iowa class of fast battleships was designed in the late s in response to the US Navy 's expectations for a future war with the Empire of Japan. The last battleships to be built by the United States, they were also the US Navy's largest and fastest vessels of the type. Design studies prepared during the development of the earlier North Carolina and South Dakota classes demonstrated the difficulty in resolving the desires of fleet officers with those of the planning staff within the displacement limits imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty system, which had governed capital ship construction since An escalator clause in the Second London Naval Treaty of allowed an increase from 35, long tons 36, t to 45, long tons 46, t in the event that any member nation refused to sign the treaty, which Japan refused to do.
Missouri is feet 3 inches The ship has a beam of ft 2 in 33 m and a draft of 37 ft 9 in Rated at , shaft horsepower , kW , the turbines were designed to give a top speed of Their designed crew numbered officers and 1, enlisted men which had greatly increased by the end of the war in Unlike their sister ships Iowa and New Jersey that were the first pair of ships built, Missouri and Wisconsin were completed with an anti-aircraft suite of twenty quadruple mounts for 40 mm 1.
