USS Missouri
Waipahu, Honolulu County, Hawaii
Marker Inscription
USS Missouri. Over this spot on 2 September 1945 the instrument of formal surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers was signed thus bringing to a close the Second World War. The ship at that time was at anchor in Tokyo Bay latitude 35 21 17 North longitude 139 45 36 East
The Story
On the morning of September 2, 1945, officials of Imperial Japan came aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, and signed the formal instrument of surrender to the Allied Powers. With those signatures the Second World War came to its final close, six years after it began and just weeks after the atomic bombings. The marker fixes the exact spot and coordinates where the ceremony unfolded on the great ship's deck.
Why it matters
The surrender aboard the Missouri is the definitive end point of history's deadliest war and the opening of the American Century, when the United States emerged as a global superpower.
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Related events
- · Japanese surrender ending World War II
Themes & tags
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