Missouri Ceremony 60 Years Ago Marked Victory in the Pacific

By DAVID F. WINKLER

One of the most impressive ship models on display in the U.S. Navy Museum, located within the Washington Navy Yard, is that of the battleship USS Missouri. Viewing it from outside the large glass display case, a visitor might eventually note an area on the 01 level deck on the starboard side where there stands a tiny table covered with green cloth. On the bulkhead behind the table is a small American flag. A close observer will note 31 stars.

On Sept. 2, 1945, the actual battleship Missouri was just one of a great armada of naval vessels gathered in Tokyo Bay to finalize the conclusion of World War II. With the nation’s new president, Harry S. Truman, hailing from the “Show Me” state, the “Big Mo” received the honor of serving as the venue for the historic surrender of Imperial Japan.

At Morning Colors, the great battleship raised a special flag — one that had flown over the Capitol on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. At 0805, a blue flag with five stars was broken to mark the arrival of Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz. A red flag with five stars was broken alongside when General of the Army Douglas MacArthur stepped aboard at 0843.

The Japanese delegation arrived at 0856 and was escorted to the ceremonial spot on the 01 level adjacent to the number 2 turret. On the mess table lay the surrender documents. Behind the table stood ranks of officers representing the allied nations that had fought alongside the Americans during the war. To the right of the Japanese delegation stood ranks of senior American Army and Naval officers beneath the framed 31-star flag. From every conceivable perch, sailors and Marines gazed down on the proceedings. One Japanese delegate recalled that “a million eyes seemed to beat on us with the million shafts of a rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire.”

After a chaplain’s invocation and the playing of the national anthem, a few minutes passed before the appearance of MacArthur and Adms. Nimitz and William Halsey. The general then stepped to the microphone, accompanied by Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright and Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Percival, American and British officers who had surrendered garrisons in the Philippines and Singapore, respectively, early in the war.

In his short remarks, MacArthur summarized the purpose for the gathering and concluded by stating: “It is my earnest hope — indeed the hope of all mankind — that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice.”

After the Japanese signed the surrender document, MacArthur signed it on behalf of all allied nations. Halsey and Rear Adm. Forrest Sherman signed on behalf of the United States. They were followed, in turn, by representatives of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

MacArthur closed the ceremony by stating: “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are now closed.”

As the ceremony concluded at 0925, the victorious ships in Tokyo Bay were overflown by 450 Navy carrier planes and additional flights of hundreds of Army-Air Force aircraft in a remarkable display of airpower.

So what of the 31-star flag on the bulkhead? At the time of the Japanese surrender there were 48 states in the union. It turns out that the red, white and blue banner had been in those waters once before. In 1853, the flag accompanied Cdr. Matthew C. Perry during his journey to Japan to establish relations and open trade. For the surrender ceremony, the flag was rushed to Missouri from the U.S. Naval Academy, where it remains today as part of the Naval Academy Museum’s collection.

Source: Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 14: Victory in the Pacific (Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1960).

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian at the Naval Historical Foundation.