The battleship Missouri is scheduled to return to Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor this week after three months of maintenance and preservation work.

The 887-foot "Mighty Mo" is expected to leave drydock at noon Thursday for the 2-mile return to its previous pier a few hundred yards away from the sunken battleship USS Arizona.

The Missouri underwent an $18 million renovation that included painting, stripping its hull, replacing its mooring lines with chains, and building a new enclosure for events on the fantail.

The restoration work on the 54,899-ton warship was its first since 1992.

A grand reopening is planned for Jan. 30, a day after the 66th anniversary of the ship's launch.

The Missouri was the site of Japan's unconditional surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

___

Information from: The Honolulu Advertiser, http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com