World War II formally ended aboard the USS Missouri
On this day · 2 September 1945
Twenty-three minutes on a battleship's deck in Tokyo Bay closed the bloodiest war in human history.
On the morning of September 2, 1945, Japanese envoys climbed aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, and signed the Instrument of Surrender. With those signatures, the Second World War was formally over.
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government and General Yoshijiro Umezu for the armed forces, followed by representatives of the United States and the other Allied powers. General Douglas MacArthur presided over the brief ceremony.
“It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge,” MacArthur told those gathered on deck.
The whole proceeding lasted only about 23 minutes and was broadcast around the world. After six years and tens of millions of deaths, the most destructive conflict in history ended quietly, with ink on paper under an open sky.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
