Fifty years after the end of World War II comes the first complete history of the USS Missouri, site of the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. This book traces the story of the Missouri - the last of the U.S. Navy's fifty-seven battleships and the most technically advanced - from her keel-laying in 1941 through the ship's successful participation in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Author Paul Stillwell was on the Missouri's final voyage to Hawaii, shortly before her decommissioning in 1992, and interviewed "Desert Storm" veterans still on board. Subsequently, he talked to dozens of other men who served on the Missouri's crew during her long and illustrious history.Combining those interviews - more than 100 altogether - with records in the Naval Historical Center, National Archives, Harry S. Truman Library, and other repositories, Stillwell has produced an engrossing portrait of the ship and her crew. Readers have a sense of being right on board as history was being made in World War II. They are also treated to an up-close view of the 1946 trip to the Mediterranean that planted the seed for the Sixth Fleet, President Truman's involvement with the ship, the Korean War, midshipman cruises, the warship's modernization in the 1980s after a long period in mothballs, an around-the-world cruise, and finally, her presence in the Persian Gulf.Among the many fascinating stories to be found here is the tale of a midshipman who gained a personal audience with Winston Churchill during a 1949 cruise to England, a crew member's description of winning a million-dollar state lottery, an account of President Truman's lifting the ban on drinking so he could enjoy his bourbon while visiting the Missouri, an explanation of why the ship just missed participating in the invasion of Inchon, Korea, and a Japanese participant's reaction to General Douglas MacArthur's speech at the surrender ceremony. Some 370 photographs enhance that narrative to give the reader a complete picture of the "Mighty Mo." Read Less