MISSOURI BB 63

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Iowa Class Battleship Keel Laid 6 January 1941 - Launched 29 January 1944 USS MISSOURI BB-63 Commissioned 11 June 1944 - Decommissioned 26 February 1955 Recommissioned 10 May 1986 - Decommissioned 31 March 1992 Stricken for disposal 12 January 1995 Donated for preservation 4 May 1998 Preserved as a museum at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, June 1998

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Missouri BB-63 Covers Page 1    (1944-86)
2. USS Missouri BB-63 Covers Page 2    (1987-94)
3. USS Missouri BB-63 Covers Page 3    (1995-2015)
4. USS Missouri BB-63 Covers Page 4    (2019 First Day Covers)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

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1st Commissioning June 11 1944 to February 26 1955

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27 1945

1945-10-27

Navy Day 1945. Cachet by Smartcraft.

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1949-02-16

5th Anniversary of the Battle of Truk Lagoon

 

Locy Type 2

1950-09-02

5th Anniversary of V-J Day, cachet by USS Brooklyn Crew No. 13, ANCS

 

Locy Type 2

1954-11-11

Veteran's Day

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-04-23

Note:

 

Locy Type 7t

1952-06-15

Note:

 

Locy Type 7tnu

1946-02-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 7tnu

1946-04-20

Sailor's Mail

 

Locy Type 7z*

1944-11-06

Note:

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS) 1986

1990-12-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS) 1991

1990-12-25

Note:

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93b

1945-09-02

Censored, WWII use

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93b

1945-09-02

VJ-Day. Card printed by the USS Missouri Print Shop

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93b

1945-09-02

VJ-Day. Card printed by the USS Missouri Print Shop

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93c

1946-09-02

1st Anniversary VJ-Day

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2nd Commissioning May 10 1986 to March 31 1992

 

Locy Type FDC F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93e

1986-05-10

Recommissioning of the USS Missouri. Cachet Artist - Cachet Artist - Alton (Budd) M. Arrington, Cachet Sponsor - Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS) 1986

1986-05-12

Unique 3-Battleship cover

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS) 1990

1991-01-16

Notes:

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93d

1985-09-02

40th Anniversary of V-J Day. Used while ship was in reactivation overhaul

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93f

1991-12-07

50th Anniversary Cancel of Pearl Harbor Attack

 

Locy Type Meter OFR1 (#520010) ZIP 96689

1992-03-16

Official Mail. Commanding Officer's return address

 

Locy Type Meter OFR2 (#520233) ZIP 96689

1990-04-23

Official Mail. Disbursing Officer's return address

 

Locy Type LDPS 2-1(n+) (USS)

1992-02-28

Last Day of Postal Service, cachet by the USS Iowa Chapter No. 98, USCS

 

Locy Type LDPS 9-1(n+u)

1992-02-28

Last Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type LDC F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-93g

1992-03-31

Decommissioning, cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type LDC 2-1(n+)

1992-03-31

Decommissioning

 

Locy Type LDC 9-1u(n+) (USS)

1992-03-31

Decommissioning

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Last Day In Commission" Long Beach CA

1992-03-31

Note:

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Coalpex Exhibition Station" Walnut Creek CA

1995-05-20

Cachet created with labels.

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "50th Anniversary / Station" Iselin NJ

1995-09-02

Cachet created by using the selvage of the WWII stamp issue.

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "70th Anniversary / Japanese Surrender / aboard USS MISSOURI" Honolulu HI

2015-09-02

Cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Surrender Station" Honolulu HI

2020-09-02

Cachet by Dennis W. Gill, sponsored by the USS Puget Sound Chapter No. 74, USCS

 

Other Information

USS MISSOURI BB-63 earned the following awards during her Naval career - Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon, Navy "E" Ribbon (with Wreathed Battle E device), China Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with three campaign stars), World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal (with service star), Korean Service Medal {with silver service star (5 campaigns), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal (with two campaign stars), Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (with two service stars), Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, United Nations Service Medal and Liberation of Kuwait Medal.

USS MISSOURI BB-63 was the site of The Japanese Surrender September 2 1945 ending WWII.

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of Missouri.

The ships sponsor is Miss Margaret Truman, daughter of Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri.

Four ships of the US Navy have borne the name MISSOURI - USS Missouri (1841 Sidewheel Frigate), USS Missouri BB-11, USS Missouri BB-63 and USS Missouri SSN-780.

 

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