USS Missouri at War
by Kit and Carolyn Bonner
Zenith Press, 2008, 159 pages
A low-flying suicide Zero fighter just about to crash into the armored
starboard side of battleship Missouri (BB-63) is one of the most famous
American images of Japan's Kamikaze Special Attack Corps. The battleship later
became known throughout the world as the place where Japanese military and
civilian delegates and high-ranking Allied military officers, led by General
Douglas MacArthur, signed the formal document of Japanese surrender on September
2, 1945. After decommissioning in March 1992, Missouri opened to the
public in January 1999 as a museum ship in Honolulu next to Ford Island. This
large-sized book features numerous photographs, many in color, of battleship
Missouri and related subjects. However, the book does not focus on in-depth
historical details specifically related to Missouri and often digresses
into background details and related topics that have little direct relationship
to the famous battleship.
Kit and Carolyn Bonner have authored or coauthored several other books on
naval history including Cold War at Sea (2000) and USS Iowa at War
(2007). USS Missouri is one of four Iowa-class battleships, the last US
battleships to be built, so much of the authors' research for the similar book
on USS Iowa would also be relevant to this one. A few photographs included in
the book come from ones taken by the authors. Kit Bonner has a personal
connection with Missouri, since the office of his father, personnel
officer for the Pacific Reserve Fleet, was for a time aboard Missouri while
docked as part of the Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, Washington. Kit had the
opportunity to explore the battleship's compartments while moored. Despite this
personal link, the book completely lacks personal stories from veterans who
served aboard Missouri. As a result, the main narrative, which takes up
somewhat less than half of the book's pages with the rest devoted to photos,
does not capture the spirit of the warship's crew.
After extensive background information on battleships and a brief overview of
Missouri's history in Chapters 1 and 2, the next five chapters cover
Missouri's history in roughly chronological order although in a somewhat
disjointed manner as the narrative switches back and forth in time. These
chapters cover the wars and conflicts in which Missouri fought including
World War II, Cold War, Korean War, and First Gulf War. Missouri was
decommissioned and mothballed as part of the Reserve Fleet in February 1955 and
was modernized and recommissioned in May 1986 as part of US actions to counter
the Soviet military threat. The background information presented in many
chapters runs much too long for a book entitled USS Missouri at War. For
example, the chapter on "A Growing Soviet Threat" includes 15 pages on the
history of the Soviet Union's Navy before the discussion begins of the US Navy's
countermeasures including the modernization of Missouri and other
Iowa-class battleships.
Chapter 3 on Missouri's service during World War II includes a couple
of paragraphs on the two kamikaze attacks that took place on April 11 and 16,
1945, during the Battle of Okinawa. Four photographs of the Zero fighter
kamikaze attack on April 11 show the famous image of the approaching Zero, a
machine gun from the Zero impaled on one of the barrels of a 40mm quad gun, the
right wing that landed on deck (see photo at bottom), and black smoke drifting behind
Missouri after the crash. The description of this first kamikaze attack
lacks details such as how the plane approached, number of casualties (only one
wounded), and identity of the pilot who was given a ceremony the following day
to bury him at sea. Another Zero fighter tried to hit Missouri on April
16 but crashed just off the ship's stern. The violent explosion showered the
fantail with shrapnel and debris, which wounded two crewmen.
The book's best story relates to the incident in which Missouri ran
aground on Thimble Shoals in Chesapeake Bay after leaving Norfolk Navy Yard on
January 17, 1950. It took 17 days before the huge battleship could be pulled
loose, and Captain Brown was found guilty of negligence, relieved of command of
Missouri, and suffered the loss of 250 places on the list of captains
awaiting ships. Few other detailed stories such as the grounding incident can be
found in USS Missouri at War, which focuses more on background
information than the history of the battleship and her crew.
Men aboard battleship Missouri examine kamikaze
plane wing that was clipped off and landed on deck
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