Launched in January, 1944 in the midst of World War II (1939-1945), the soon to be famous battleship participated in numerous operations in the Pacific theater against the Japanese. naval history save for USS Constitution, Operation Desert Storm was USS Missouri’s final combat mission after nearly 50 years of active service. Together, USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin passed the million-pound mark of ordnance fired, an astonishing amount of firepower delivered. Consequently, these fire support salvos were the last fired in anger by any battleship in the world (USS Wisconsin also fired her guns but ceased firing earlier than USS Missouri), signalling the end of the long and storied history of this class of massive warships. When fired, her shells reached far inland undetected until impact and detonation, which caused sheer panic and confusion amongst the enemy. She sat off the coast away from enemy fire, and fired at will without fear of counterattack. USS Missouri, along with sister-ship USS Wisconsin (also in theater) served as both a practical and psychological weapon for the U.S. Over the next few weeks until the conclusion of the campaign USS Missouri then fired almost 800 rounds of lethal 16-inch projectiles from her main batteries, which pummeled enemy positions. This strike effectively opened the campaign. On January 17, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm (JanuFebruary 28, 1991) USS Missouri (BB-63), “Mighty Mo”, fired the first of 28 total Tomahawk Cruise missiles (TLAM) in the campaign at Iraqi land based targets in Kuwait. USS Missouri firing her 16″ guns during Desert Storm, 6 February 1991.
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