Construction of the Washington commenced at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where her keel was laid down on June 14, 1938.

Suspended beneath the belly of the B-17 bomber, the ball turret was a claustrophobic sphere of glass, guns, and guts.

On April 11, 1945, a Kamikaze attack left the USS Missouri scorched but intact - along with the broken body of the pilot who struck her. In a gesture that shocked even the crew, Captain Callahan chose ...