BATTLE WAGED FOR USS MISSOURI.

Byline: Associated Press 

Two California cities - Long Beach and San Francisco - are among the U.S. cities vying to become the home port for the World War II battleship USS Missouri.

But business leaders and former military officials in Honolulu are pressuring the Navy to send the ship - the site where the Japanese formally surrendered - back to the Hawaiian islands.

``Hawaii is the ideal location for this majestic ship,'' U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye said in a written statement. ``It is only fitting that the USS Missouri be permanently moored within sight of the sunken USS Arizona.

``The two together both represent the beginning and the end of World War II,'' he said.

Bremerton, Wash., also is bidding for the ``Mighty Mo,'' which is now moored in Washington. The Navy will make a decision this summer.

The Arizona was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

If it is docked at Pearl Harbor's Battleship Row, the USS Missouri Memorial Association said it will build a museum and memorial park for the Missouri, Arizona and the USS Bowfin, said Ed Carter, association chairman.

The group plans to raise between $15 million and $25 million to do so. About $6.5 million in local loans and donations already has been set aside to bring the ship here, he said.