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‘"'(1 Car'r'j"cd its emphasis to submarine1. '"Sly Un,e^ aifcraft, it seemed increas- eVerben' j ^ tdat her big guns would NitiCa, ed®d again. But that was before ^entrai !lpaeavals in the Mideast and tterica and continued Soviet
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-ton A?1BB-64 ], will begin reacti- befotg ‘ al'-) The ceremony took place ^taticisc-0^6 tllan 10,000 guests at San Ure lS|a arbor, a mile from the Treas- 'be hfj Naval Base that will become The uUri S home port in 1989- 'b-irtch 'Ssour‘ had last fired her nine P°rting hUns 'n anger in 1953 while sup- i e "as Td ^at'ons forces in Korea, o 55 ami ecommissi°ned in February SoUnd NsPent 29 years in the Puget Nrt of (LVu Shipyard reserve fleet, with • e ship open to the public as a
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r jnX^ans*°n brought about a majoi 'eSar(]e(j bJ. S. defense policy. Onc< , Aleshin aS dinosaUfs, the Iowa-clas: I V elemS are now being embraced a: ‘‘bn i , ents °f Secretary of the Navy Life" man’s r,m „u:_ i,
the \P'CtUred on this issue’s cover, JSy Zew Jersey (BB-62), that have oUria0lned the fleet, the 54,000-ton
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1986
sive and time-consuming jobs involved converting the ship’s fuel system from black oil to Navy distillate fuel and the installation of sewage collection and holding tanks. The modernization, conducted at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard took two years to complete and cost $430 million.
The Missouri, however, has one special feature that sets her apart from her two active sisters and the Wisconsin: On the battleship’s starboard 01 level promenade deck—now referred to as the “surrender deck”—the bronze plaque from her museum days has been retained.
Draped with red, white, and blue bunting, the surrender deck was center stage for the ship’s recommissioning. The hour-long ceremony included speeches by San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Missouri Governor John Ashcroft, Margaret Truman Daniel— daughter of former President Harry S Truman—who had christened the ship in 1944, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, and Secretary Lehman.
The importance of the missile-firing battleship to the Navy was affirmed by
Secretary Weinberger, who declared that the Missouri's, recommissioning was “a day to celebrate the rebirth of American sea power after years of serious neglect. ’ ’ Shortly after, Secretary Weinberger placed the battleship in commission. Captain Albert L. Kaiss, the Missouri’s commanding officer, then stepped to the rostrum, ordered the American flag and commissioning pennant hoisted, and set the ship’s watch.
As a Navy band struck up “Anchors Aweigh,” several hundred crew members began running up the ship’s gangways to man the rails. Gun turrets and mounts began to rotate, Tomahawk missile launchers elevated, and smoke began drifting from the ship’s tall funnels. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered. The Missouri, the 551st warship in the active fleet, had returned.
Mr. Serig is a senior economist with the U. S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D. C., assigned to the Office of the Secretary, where he serves as an advisor on marine transportation policy. He is also a freelance writer and photographer and has been published in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Chicago Tribune.
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