In January 1950, shortly after leaving Norfolk, Virginia, the USS Missouri ran aground in the Chesapeake Bay. The mishap captured the curiosity of Americans from coast to coast, and as the nation looked on an embarrassed Navy frantically tried to refloat the warship - for two weeks. The eventual recovery set lasting records in the history of organized marine salvage. This book provides a minute-by-minute account of the grounding, the root cause of which has never before been made public.