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WW2 ERA US MARINE CORPS DETACHMENT, BATTLESHIP

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
WW2 ERA US MARINE CORPS DETACHMENT, BATTLESHIP

USS MISSOURI. 22” x 28”, could have been on board during the surrender ceremony with Japan. Larger ships of the U.S. Navy had Marine detachments on them from cruisers up to aircraft carriers. The U.S.S. Missouri (BB-63) was an Iowa class battleship from WW2, arguably the most famous of the four ships of this class. On her decks, in Tokyo Bay, was the surrender of Imperial Japan on September 2, 1945 which ended World War Two across the globe. The U.S. S. Missouri was launched on January 29, 1944 and entered active service later in the year. The “Mighty Mo” was the final battleship built for the Navy. She has been removed from active service a few times during her career being brought back into action for the Korean War and then again in the 1980s where she was modernized and had upgraded electronics. Her last combat action was in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She was decommissioned for the last time in 1992 but was not removed from the Naval Register until 1995. She is now a permanent museum ship at the U.S. Navy Base of Pearl Harbor.
During her active career she carried a Marine Detachment as per Navy/Marine practice. The MarDet was typically from 35 to 85 Marines and they protected the ship’s captain, operated the brig, sometimes manned guns (in particular anti-aircraft guns), performed ceremonial duties and protected nuclear weapons if the ship carried any. Over time, as the Marine Corps sought to put more men into the Fleet Marine Forces, Marines on larger warships were drawn down. In 1998 the over 200 year practice of operating on U.S. warships was ended when the MarDet of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. George Washington came ashore for the last time.
This guidon is for one of the Marine detachments that served on the “Mighty Mo” at some time in her long career while she was in active service, 1944-1955.
(02-17547-45/JS). $600-800.