Mighty Mo makeover

The historic World War 2 US battleship Missouri has recently undergone a three-month $18 million refurbishment in dry dock at Pearl Harbour. Nick-named the Mighty Mo, the 273m long battleship, with a displacement of 54,899 tons, was last dry-docked in 1992 at Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

Battleship Missouri in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Drydock 4

The majority of maintenance and preservation work was carried out by BAE Systems and shipyard officials said the floating museum Missouri was the largest vessel to enter the dry dock. The 1945 built ship was decommissioned in 1955 and pressed back into service from 1986 to 1992, participating in the 1991 Desert Storm campaign. She was finally decommissioned in 1992.

Several hundred workers from BAE Systems Ship Repair spent three months sandblasting and repainting the Missouri, hull inspection and repairs, applying a hull anti-corrosion system, replacing the rope mooring lines with chains, replacing plumbing, sewage and electrical systems and installing humidity monitors for the ship’s 600 tanks.