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Happy Birthday Mighty Mo!

USS Missouri on Launching Day, January 28, 1944

The USS Missouri is one of the Yard's most storied warships. An Iowa-class battleship, she was known for speed as well as her impressive secondary anti-aircraft batteries. Throughout her long career she earned 11 stars for service, though she is probably best know as the site of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay that marked the end of WWII. An interesting side note: photographs from the ceremony show a 31-star flag in the background that was flown over Commodore Matthew Perry's flagship when he led the Far East Squadron that opened Japan's ports to foreign trade. The presence of that flag was an additional point of pride to Yard workers since Perry was the Brooklyn Navy Yard's eighth Commandant. The eight-minute United News clip below shows the ceremony.

The Shipworker quoted some evocative vital statistics in its January 29, 1944 launching day issue: 

• Upon launch she displaced 46 acres of water, roughly on sixth the size of Manhattan
• 4,300,000 feet of welding went into her construction
• The area of her decks equals the square feet of an average 18 story office building
• A baseball pitcher would have to pitch all 9 innings of 9,458 games to equal the number of rivets "tossed" in her direction
• 175 tons of blueprint paper was used for the plans for the Missouri, enough to make 700,000 64 page newspapers 

We have come to realize that for our visitors the USS Missouri embodies a feeling of honor, duty and connectedness to the larger war effort overseas--particularly during WWII.  This sentiment was expressed at her launching day by The Shipworker: "We have given of our best in order that Uncle Sam might send this mighty addition to the fleet into the fight at the earliest possible moment...Our hopes and prayers go with her, and we shall feel--rightfully we think--that her successes will in a very real sense be our successes."

"We have given of our best in order that Uncle Sam might send this mighty addition to the fleet into the fight at the earliest possible moment...Our hopes and prayers go with her, and we shall feel--rightfully we think--that her successes will in a very real sense be our successes." 

At the time of her construction the Yard was 24/7 facility.  If you were a worker on the late shift your personal sacrifice very likely included extremely limited time spent with your family.  One story that was shared with us recently was of a young shipworker whose midnight to eight shift prohibited him from finding time to buy his sweetheart a suitable Valentine's day present.  In order to fulfill his romantic duties he took a piece of scrap metal that had been cast aside during Missouri's construction and fashioned it into a heart.  This humble gift was cherished by its recipient for decades, and then was lovingly passed on to our archive for safe-keeping.  We couldn't think of a more fitting testament to the sacrifices Yard workers and their families made in order to ensure the quality and readiness of our Naval fleet. 

Another wonderful donation related to the Missouri is this rare color home movie of her launch.  Her massive bulk is belied by the effortlessness of her glide into the iron gray water of the East River.  Despite appearances, we've been told the launch was anything but silent. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sound of grinding mental was described as "unimaginable" and on an order of magnitude befitting the massive vessel.

All of these materials--and memories--enhance our ability to tell the story of the Yard, and bring it back to human scale.  They evoke the sweat, sacrifice and successes that comes with running a 'round the clock shipyard during our Nation's time of need.  Our hope is to honor these materials by sharing them in any way that we can, to enlighten our visitors, and to give dimension to the history of this Yard and the people that played a role in shaping it.  

Credit:

Metal Valentine from the USS Missouri, 1943, The family of Joseph Sakowitz

USS Missouri Launch video, 1944, Mrs. Robert E. McFarland and family