The observance of the 64th anniversary of the end of World War Two has taken place on the deck of the USS Missouri. Now it’s time for the ship to disappear from public view for about three months. It will be the first major maintenance on our state battleship in 17 years.

Seventeen years in a salt water environment takes a toll even on something as imposing as a battleship. But, as some Navy people say, "Rust never sleeps."

The Battleship Missouri will be towed from its mooring place in Hawaii to Drydock Four at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for a three-month, 15-million dollar overhaul.

President Michael Carr of the USS Missouri Memorial Association says the entire ship will be repainted. Rusty sections of the hull will be replaced. Humidity controls will be installed inside the ship. And they’ll make the ship more visitor friendly. "We do not have restroom facilities on the ship for our guests..so we’re going to be renovating one of the main aft restroom facilities on the main deck of the ship," he says. That’s a change that will be welcomed by the estimated 40-thousand visitors who go aboard every month.

The Missouri heads to drydock in about a month. The public will not be able to see it there. It has be towed back to Pier Foxtrot Five in January because the Navy has operational ships scheduled in as soon as the Missouri leaves. .

Upload BP’s interview with Carr (25:43 mp3)