<P> Missouri was the last U.S. battleship to be completed . Wisconsin, the highest - numbered U.S. battleship built, was completed before Missouri; BB - 65 to BB - 71 were ordered but cancelled . </P> <P> After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in the Chesapeake Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk, Virginia on 11 November 1944, transited the Panama Canal on 18 November and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as fleet flagship . She stood out of San Francisco Bay on 14 December and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 24 December 1944 . She departed Hawaii on 2 January 1945 and arrived in Ulithi, West Caroline Islands on 13 January . There she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher . The battleship put to sea on 27 January to serve in the screen of the Lexington carrier task group of Mitscher's TF 58, and on 16 February the task force's aircraft carriers launched the first naval air strikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid, which had been launched from the carrier Hornet in April 1942 . </P> <P> Missouri then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her main guns provided direct and continuous support to the invasion landings begun on 19 February . After TF 58 returned to Ulithi on 5 March, Missouri was assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group . On 14 March, Missouri departed Ulithi in the screen of the fast carriers and steamed to the Japanese mainland . During strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan beginning on 18 March, Missouri shot down four Japanese aircraft . </P> <P> Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshū continued . When the carrier Franklin incurred battle damage, the Missouri's carrier task group provided cover for the Franklin's retirement toward Ulithi until 22 March, then set course for pre-invasion strikes and bombardment of Okinawa . </P>

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