Initially announced last November 20 by the U.S. Postal Service, a commemorative to celebrate USS Missouri (BB-63) was issued June 11, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Missouri’s commissioning as America’s last battleship in 1944.
According to Wikipedia, this “Iowa-class battleship was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U.S. state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. She played a momentous role when she hosted the ceremony in Tokyo Bay marking Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II on September 2, 1945, bringing to a close the bloodiest conflict in world history.
“Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the ‘Mothball Fleet’), but was reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991.
“Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992 after serving a total of 17 years of active service... In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.”
The 887-foot vessel is depicted from a low vantage point almost at sea level, cutting through the water at a moderate speed commensurate with entering or leaving port. Large and imposing in the frame, Missouri is shown in the disruptive camouflage she wore from her commissioning until a refit in early 1945. Clouds loom in the background, tinged with gold and rose from the sun’s rays, and the ship flies one of the smallest flags on any U.S. stamp.
Designed by art director Greg Breeding, the stamp features a digital illustration by Dan Cosgrove. The USS Missouri stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price, which was 55¢ at the date of issue.
The dedication ceremony was scheduled to take place June 11 at 11 a.m. at the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. Taking part in the dedication were USPS Acting Enterprise Analytics Vice President Jeffrey C. Johnson, USS Missouri Memorial Foundation President and CEO Mike Carr, Rear Adm. Brian P. Fort of U.S. Navy Region Hawaii and Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, U.S. Navy (Retired), the Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, Curator of the Navy.
The first U.S. stamps to salute U.S. naval vessels were commemoratives of the 1936-37 Navy Issue (Scott 790-94). The 1¢ depicted Captain John Paul Jones’ Bonhomme Richard, a converted East India Co. merchant ship mounting 42 guns that attacked a British convoy in the 1779 battle of Flamborough Head, capturing its flagship, the twin-deck 44-gun fifth rate ship-of-the-line HMS Serapis, at the conclusion of a ferocious four–hour fight shortly after which the broken and burning Bonhomme Richard sank.
The 2¢ stamp depicted USS United States, the 1797 three-masted first-class heavy frigate mounting 56 heavy guns in which Captain Stephen Decatur captured the Royal Navy frigate HMS Macedonian near Madeira in 1812. The 3¢ pictured USS Hartford, a 24-gun sloop-of-war steamer launched in 1858 that served in the Civil War as the flagship of Rear Arm. David G. Farragut, most notably at the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their post office or at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope bearing sufficient postage and addressed to:
FDOI — USS Missouri Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the USPS will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for up to 50 postmarks, but there is a 5¢ charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by October 11, 2019.
