The Battleship Missouri Memorial commemorates (and physically is) the U.S.S. Missouri, the site of Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces on Sept. 2, 1945, and, therefore, the conclusion of World War II. The Missouri was launched on Jan. 29, 1944, and commissioned on June 11, 1944. She was assigned to the Pacific Third Fleet and steamed into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944. The U.S.S. Missouri was also part of the force that carried out bombing raids over Tokyo and provided firepower in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In 1955, the Missouri was decommissioned and mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. But in 1986, she was recommissioned after undergoing an extensive modernization and refurbishment. In 1992, the Missouri was decommissioned for the second time.

The memorial offers self-guided tours; a selection of tours guided by volunteers, including retired military veterans; audio tours; Guide2Go tours; an overnight program; a 30-minute outreach presentation available to Hawaii schools; and space for school band or choir performances. The website offers a variety of curriculum ideas and resources, extensive blueprints, vessel characteristic statistics, a photo gallery, relevant videos, and oral history transcriptions.