USS Missouri

The decommissioned battleship USS Missouri, nicknamed 'Mighty Mo,' provides a unique historical 'bookend' to the US campaign in the Pacific during WWII. If you're a history buff the USS Missouri is a worthwhile sight, but if your time or money is limited a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial will suffice. The 887ft-long USS Missouri launched near the end of WWII and served as a flagship during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

On September 2, 1945, the formal Japanese surrender that ended WWII took place on the battleship's deck. The USS Missouri is now docked on Ford Island, just a few hundred yards from the sunken remains of the USS Arizona and is managed by the nonprofit USS Missouri Memorial Association. A general admission tour of the ship takes approximately two hours. You can poke about the officers' quarters, visit the wardroom that now houses exhibits on the ship's history and walk the deck where General Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender. There are more expensive tours that include a docent-led tour of the 'combat engagement center' where you can watch a simulated naval battle. It's not possible to drive directly to Ford Island, because it's an active military facility. Instead, a shuttle bus picks-up visitors from the USS Bowfin Park every 10 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00