Palau – 2008 – 500 Dollars – USS Missouri Battleship (PROOF)

Description

Metal: Gold .9999
Weight: 2.5 OZ
Diameter: 42×42 mm
Quality: Proof
Mintage: 77 pcs.

The USS Missouri, an Iowa-class battleship with its 30 knots (56 kilometres per hour), was one of the fastest battleships
in the US Navy fleet. The vessels dimensions, which are 270 meters times 33 meters, were well-defined as it was
essential to cross the Panama Canal (minimum width 33.5 meters) in order to reach strategic important operational areas
much faster.

The USS Missouri which was put into commission in 1944 was involved in the battle of Okinawa.
On September 2nd, 1945 an important occasion, which went down in history, took place on her deck. The political and
military Japanese representatives signed their capitulation in Tokyo Bay and the Second World War finally came to an
end.

Also in subsequent American wars the USS Missouri came into operation. 1950 in the Korean War and later, rearmed
and modernised, in the Second Gulf War. Since 1995 the famous battleship has served its time and is now a museum in
Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.