The USS Missouri will sail into Post Offices across the nation this week.
The Postal Service is marking the 75th anniversary of the battleship’s 1944 commissioning with a stamp that will be released Tuesday, June 11.
USS Missouri (BB-63), the last U.S. Navy battleship, made history when she hosted high-ranking military officials from the United States, the Allied powers, and the Empire of Japan in a surrender ceremony that ended World War II in September 1945.
Commissioned on June 11, 1944, “Mighty Mo” played an integral role in the final defeat of Imperial Japan — most notably providing support for the capture of the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Following World War II, Missouri made deployments to the Mediterranean as a show of support for free nations under threat from communism and demonstrated her deterrent value.
In 1950, in response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea, Missouri provided support to U.S. and United Nations ground forces.
After being decommissioned in 1955 and serving the next 30 years as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet, she was brought back into service in 1986. Missouri was deployed to the Persian Gulf and supported U.S. and Allied ground forces in liberating Kuwait in 1990 and 1991.
On March 31, 1992, Missouri was decommissioned for the second and final time. Mighty Mo now rests at the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor, HI, near the USS Arizona Memorial.
Designed by Greg Breeding, a USPS art director, the stamp features a digital illustration created by Dan Cosgrove depicting Missouri from a low vantage point. The ship is shown cutting through the water and wearing the camouflage she wore in 1944.
The stamp will be available at Post Offices and usps.com.