Editing USS Missouri (BB-63) (section)

=== Post-war (1946–1950) ===

The next day, ''Missouri'' departed Pearl Harbor bound for the [[East Coast of the United States]]. She reached New York City on 23 October and hoisted the flag of [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] commander Admiral [[Jonas Ingram]]. Four days later, the battleship fired a [[21-gun salute]] (the first of 3 that day) as Truman—who had since become President of the United States—boarded for [[Navy Day]] ceremonies.{{sfn|DANFS}}{{sfn|Stillwell|p=86}}

[[File:USS Missouri (BB-63), USS Power (DD-839) and TCG Yavuz (B-70) off Istanbul on 5 April 1946.jpg|thumb|left|''Missouri'' (center) and [[SMS Goeben|TCG ''Yavuz'']] (right) in the Bosphorus, April 1946]]
After an overhaul in the [[New York Naval Shipyard]]{{sfn|Stillwell|page=356}} that included the replacement of the Mark 8 fire-control radars with [[Mark 13 radar|Mark 13]] models,{{sfn|Sumrall|p=92}} and a training cruise to [[Cuba]], ''Missouri'' returned to New York. During the afternoon of 21 March 1946, she received the remains of the [[Turkey|Turkish]] Ambassador to the United States, [[Munir Ertegun]]. She departed on 22 March for [[Gibraltar]], and on 5 April anchored in the [[Bosphorus]] off [[Istanbul]]. She rendered full honors, including the firing of 19-gun salutes during the transfer of the remains of the late ambassador and again during the funeral ashore.{{sfn|DANFS}}{{sfn|Stillwell|pp=100-102}}

''Missouri'' departed Istanbul on 9 April and entered [[Phaleron Bay]], [[Piraeus, Greece]], the following day for a welcome by Greek government officials and [[anti-communist]] citizens. Greece had become the scene of a [[Greek Civil War|civil war]] between the [[Communist Party of Greece|pro-communist]]-dominated left-wing [[Resistance during World War II|resistance]] organization [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|EAM]]-[[ELAS]] and the returning Greek government-in-exile. The United States saw this as an important test case for its new doctrine of [[containment]] of the Soviet Union. The Soviets were also pushing for concessions in the [[Dodecanese]] to be included in the [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947|peace treaty with Italy]] and for access through the [[Dardanelles]] strait between the [[Black Sea]] and the Mediterranean. The voyage of ''Missouri'' to the eastern Mediterranean symbolized America's strategic commitment to the region. News media proclaimed her a symbol of US interest in preserving Greece and Turkey's independence.{{sfn|DANFS}}

[[File:Helicopter lands on USS Missouri (BB-63) gun turret, 1948 Midshipmen’s Practice Cruise (37781879662).jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|A helicopter lands on a ''Missouri'' gun turret during the 1948 Midshipmen's Practice Cruise]]
''Missouri'' departed Piraeus on 26 April, touching at [[Algiers]] and [[Tangiers]] before arriving at Norfolk on 9 May. She departed for [[Culebra Island]] on 12 May to join Admiral Mitscher's [[United States Eighth Fleet|8th Fleet]] in the Navy's first large-scale postwar Atlantic training maneuvers. The battleship returned to New York City on 27 May, and spent the next year steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the [[Davis Strait]] and south to the [[Caribbean]] on various training exercises.{{sfn|DANFS}} On 3 December, during a gunnery exercise in the North Atlantic, a [[star shell]] fired by the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Little Rock|CL-92|2}} accidentally struck the battleship, killing one crewman and wounding three others.{{sfn|Stillwell|p=110}}

''Missouri'' arrived at [[Rio de Janeiro]] on 30 August 1947 for the [[Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security]]. President Truman boarded on 2 September to celebrate the signing of the [[Rio Treaty]], which broadened the [[Monroe Doctrine]] by stipulating that an attack on any one of the signatory American countries would be considered an attack on all.{{sfn|DANFS}}

The Truman family boarded ''Missouri'' on 7 September 1947 to return to the United States and disembarked at Norfolk on 19 September. Her overhaul in New York, which lasted from 23 September to 10 March 1948{{sfn|DANFS}} included upgrading most of her radar suite. The SK-2 system was replaced by a [[SR-3 radar]] and both SG fire-control radars were removed, an improved [[SG-6 radar|SG-6]] replaced the forward antenna and the aft SG was exchanged for a [[SP radar|SP height-finding radar]]; [[Mark 25 radar|Mark 25]] fire-control radars replaced the combination Mark 12/22 installations on the roofs of the Mark 37 directors.{{sfn|Sumrall|pages=101, 110–112}} After the overhaul, the ship worked up at [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]]. The summer of 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training cruises. Also in 1948, ''Missouri'' became the first battleship to host a [[helicopter]] detachment, operating two Sikorsky [[Sikorsky H-5|HO3S-1]] machines for utility and rescue work.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usna.com/SSLPage.aspx?pid=656 |title=Helo Operations |last=Close |first=Robert A. (Cmdr) |website=U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation |access-date=25 October 2019  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214182049/https://www.usna.com/SSLPage.aspx?pid=656 |archive-date=14 February 2012}}</ref> The battleship departed Norfolk on 1 November 1948 for a second three-week [[Arctic]] cold-weather training cruise to the Davis Strait. During the next two years, ''Missouri'' participated in exercises from the [[New England]] coast to the Caribbean, alternated with two midshipman summer training cruises. She was overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 23 September 1949 to 17 January 1950.{{sfn|DANFS}}{{sfn|Stillwell|p=365}}

Throughout the latter half of the 1940s, the various service branches of the United States had been reducing their inventories from their World War II levels. For the Navy, this resulted in several vessels of various types being decommissioned and either sold for scrap or placed in one of the various [[United States Navy reserve fleets]] scattered along the coasts. As part of this contraction, three of the ''Iowa''-class battleships had been de-activated and decommissioned but President Truman refused to allow ''Missouri'' to be decommissioned. Against the advice of [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Louis A. Johnson|Louis Johnson]], Secretary of the Navy [[John L. Sullivan (Navy)|John L. Sullivan]], and Chief of Naval Operations [[Louis E. Denfeld]], Truman ordered ''Missouri'' to be maintained with the active fleet partly because of his fondness for the battleship and partly because the battleship had been christened by his daughter Margaret.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3037591.html |title=USS ''Missouri'': Served in World War II and Korean War |last=Stillwell |first=Paul |date=February 1999 |journal=[[American History]] |issn=1076-8866 |access-date=3 December 2007 |oclc=30148811  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219024924/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3037591.html |archive-date=19 December 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://starbulletin.com/1999/08/09/news/story2.html |title=Mighty Mo anchors $500,000 donation |last=Adamski |first=Mary |work=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] |date=9 August 1998 |access-date=14 June 2007}}</ref>

[[File:USS_Missouri_February_1_1950_Final_Pull.jpg|thumb|left|Configuration for final successful pull]]
Captain William D. Brown assumed command of the battleship on 10 December while she was being overhauled.{{sfn|Stillwell|pages=145–148}} Then the only US battleship in commission, ''Missouri'' was proceeding from [[Hampton Roads]] on her first training exercise at sea since the overhaul, early on 17 January 1950 when she [[USS Missouri grounding incident|ran aground]] {{convert|1.6|mi|km|abbr=on}} from [[Thimble Shoal Light]], near [[Old Point Comfort]]. She hit shoal water a distance of three ship-lengths from the main channel.{{sfn|DANFS}} The error resulted from a combination of many factors, including Brown's inexperience maneuvering such a large ship. The grounding occurred during a particularly high tide making the effort to free her even more difficult as did having an abandoned [[anchor]] becoming embedded in her hull. After off-loading ammunition, fuel and food to lighten the battleship,{{sfn|Stillwell|pages=153–157}} she was refloated on 1 February with the aid of [[tugboats]], [[Pontoon (boat)|pontoons]], [[Beach gear (ship salvage)|beach gear]] and a rising tide.{{sfn|Butler|pp=114–128}}

After the subsequent [[Naval Board of Inquiry]], Brown and three of his officers were [[court-martial]]led. Brown was relieved of command and his subordinates were reprimanded. Captain [[Harold Page Smith]] assumed command on 7 February as the ''Missouri''{{'}}s repairs were being completed. Having repaired morale aboard during his tenure as the ship was relegated to training duties in an effort to cut costs by Johnson, Page Smith was replaced by Captain Irving Duke on 19 April.{{sfn|Stillwell|pages=160–164}}