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USS Missouri Pulls into Dry Dock

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS091015-08
Release Date: 10/15/2009 1:10:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Mark Logico, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- After more than a decade, the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) pulled away from its pier and was towed into the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNS) Drydock 4 for extensive maintenance work Oct. 14.

"Shipyard employees are excited to be working on such a historic battleship," said the Shipyard Commander Capt. Greg Thomas. "We have prepared for the Missouri dry docking for more than a year. We trained hard, studied the challenges thoroughly and built a great Navy-contractor team ready to jump into action at first light."

The three-month, $18 million preservation effort began with an approximate two-mile journey from its pier to dry dock at 6:50 a.m. The process took more than 11 hours from casting off at the pier to entering Drydock 4 and full evacuation of water from the facility. By sunset, the battleship's formidable hull was visible outside of the water for the first time since 1992, when she was last dry docked just after her second and final decommissioning.

The dry dock is 1,088 feet long and 155 feet wide with a depth of 59 feet enough to contain the 887 feet, 54,889-ton ship. "The bulk of the work in dry dock will consist of sand blasting, inspection and hull repairs," said Kerry Gershaneck the congressional and public affairs officer for PHNS. "Then, preservation work will begin to fortify the ship's underwater hull and superstructure against the elements for the next several decades. Missouri will also be repainted from top to bottom."

BAE Systems Ship Repair workers are scheduled to perform maintenance and preservation work on the battleship. Approximately more than 200 workers a day will be engaged in this work.

Missouri's exit from dry dock and return is scheduled for Jan. 7. A formal grand reopening ceremony is scheduled to take place on Jan. 29, 2010, the 11th anniversary of the memorial's grand opening and the 66th anniversary of Missouri's launching from Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Following the attack of Dec. 7, 1941, PHNS workers resurrected the U.S. Pacific Fleet from the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

"The workers played a crucial role in winning World War II," said Thomas. "So we take great pride that our shipyard is helping to preserve one of the greatest symbols of victory in that war, the battleship Missouri."

Missouri is the last battleship by the U.S., and it is the site of Japan's unconditional surrender ending the war.

Following a career that spans five decades and three wars, from World War II to the Korean conflict to the liberation of Kuwait, USS Missouri was decommissioned and donated by the U.S. Navy to the USS Missouri Memorial Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which has operated the battleship as a historic attraction and memorial since 1999. The association oversees the ship's care and preservation with the support of visitors, memberships, grants and the generosity of donors.