USS Missouri (BB-63) - Iowa Class Fast Battleship
Massive!
Fast! Deadly! These are the kinds of terms that you could use to
describe the Iowa Class Fast Battleships of World War II.
The Missouri's keel was laid down on January 6th, 1941, she was launched January 29th, 1944 and commissioned on June 11th, after her sea trials. She was 887 feet long, 208 feet from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast, had a beam of 108 feet and displaced 58,000 tons when fully loaded. Her speed was listed as in excess of 30 knots, probably closer to 35 - almost 39 miles an hour.
Armament consisted of 9 16 inch main guns, which could fire an 1,800 pound shell, 23 miles. 20 5 inch antiaircraft guns completed the large armament, but dozens of 20mm and 40mm guns provided support.
The Missouri was the ship selected to be the platform on which General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signed the Japanese surrender documents in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd 1945.
This is the 2nd in a Series of Historic Ships edition size - 500 print size 36" x 10" $ 65.00