The “;Mighty Mo,”; the platform for the Japanese surrender in World War II, has returned to its berth in Pearl Harbor to continue serving as a floating national museum.

Completing 12 weeks of repair costing about $18 million, the battleship Missouri is expected to have a formal grand reopening on Jan. 30.

But it is to be temporarily moved tomorrow to be a part of a major motion picture called “;Battleship.”;

The ship went through a daylong process of being refloated in dry dock yesterday and a slow 2-mile journey to its dock at Ford Island.

Retired Vice Adm. Robert Kihune, chairman of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, said he thought the ship was in better condition than it was when he was aboard it in 1986.

“;I could feel a new vibrancy aboard the ship,”; Kihune said.

The “;Mighty Mo”; began major repairs in dry dock on Oct. 14, including replacement of hull plates and repainting.

The work also included the installation of a $1 million dehumidifying unit to slow corrosion.

  Water Fills Drydock Of USS Missouri

 

The USS Missouri prepares to set sail after a major maintenance project.

[ Watch ]

 

The Missouri and the nearby USS Arizona Memorial serve as bookends to U.S. participation in World War II. More than 1,000 sailors died when the Arizona was attacked by the Japanese fleet on Dec. 7, 1941—a battle that resulted in 2,300 dead and 1,100 wounded. The Missouri, entering the war in 1944, participated in battles in the Japanese islands, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was the ship where Japan unconditionally surrendered in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, who as a 17-year-old served a medical volunteer on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, said the Missouri serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the armed forces.

“;This ship is a memorial,”; said Inouye, speaking yesterday at a rededication gathering near the Missouri. “;It's a proud day for all of us.”;

Inouye, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his valor as an American soldier in Europe during World War II, said he visited the Missouri at a graveyard for naval ships in the mid-1990s in Bremerton, Wash.

“;I could not believe what I saw. ... It was rotting away,”; Inouye said. “;That's no way to treat the ship.”;

Inouye said while some shipyards proposed using the Missouri as a tourist attraction, putting restaurants and a cocktail lounge aboard the vessel, the Hawaii group led by Kihune proposed it as a memorial to the men and women of World War II.

“;Obviously the Pentagon saw the meaning of this, and here we are today,”; Inouye said.

The Missouri was put into storage at Bremerton in 1955 but recommissioned in May 1986, and participated in Operation Desert Storm, becoming a launch platform for cruise missiles and providing gunfire support.

It was decommissioned on March 31, 1992, and opened as a museum ship in 1999.

More than 100 military personnel participated yesterday in a re-enlistment ceremony aboard the ship.

“;It was a historic, memorable event,”; said Army Sgt. Raymond Manalo, who re-enlisted.

Manalo, who spent a one-year tour in Iraq and works as a medical laboratory technician, said he felt honored to have been part of a ceremony on such a historic ship.

Brooks W. Outland, a retired senior chief petty officer, said he was a 17-year-old apprentice seaman when he stepped aboard the Missouri in 1950.

Outland, who now works as a supervisor for volunteer groups aboard the Missouri, said he was happy to be working with American veterans in maintaining the ship.

“;This was my home for two years,”; Outland said. “;I still get shivers when I walk about it.”;