The nonprofit group that operates the battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor's Ford Island would get a two-year, $415,000 rent break under a provision approved yesterday by the House Armed Services Committee.

The historic battleship, run since 1999 as a museum and memorial next to the sunken USS Arizona, faces millions of dollars in repair costs to drydock the 887-foot ship at Pearl Harbor to repaint its corroding hull and portions of its superstructure.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, included a provision in the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Navy to waive the rent paid by the USS Missouri Memorial Association for two years.

"The nonprofit USS Memorial Association performs a great service to our country by maintaining a renowned symbol that would otherwise be lost to future generations," said Abercrombie, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces. "The association depends on admission fees and donations to cover its rent and welcomes 400,000 visitors annually to the Missouri which is of no cost to the federal government."

It's not the first time Abercrombie has tried to get a break for the Missouri.

In December, Abercrombie requested that the Navy charge only nominal rent, citing the nonprofit museum and memorial mission of the battleship, which was the site of Japan's surrender in 1945 at the end of World War II in Tokyo Bay.

But the Navy replied that the law requires it to charge fair-market rent.

The memorial pays $17,300 per month to use Pier Foxtrot-5 at Ford Island — rent which has totaled nearly $2 million since the original lease was signed in June 1998, according to Abercrombie's office.

"We must do all we can to help the association in its mission to preserve this priceless part of American and world history," Abercrombie said yesterday. "The two-year rent break will help the Missouri and provide more time for our committee to discuss a long-term solution in regards to the rent issue."

The Missouri is one of four museums operating near "Battleship Row" in Pearl Harbor. Those include the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, the battleship USS Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor.

The USS Bowfin Submarine Museum pays $1 a year for its Navy lease, but that's only because the agreement pre-dated the law requiring the Navy to be paid fair market value for its property, officials said.

"Obviously, there is no fair market value (for the Missouri's berth) because there's no commercial capacity there," Abercrombie said. "So the rent, if you will, ought to be zero. We simply have to work out the technical details to make sure that that's made legal."

The "Mighty Mo" is making plans for a shipyard drydock period more than a year from now. During the two to three months the battleship is in drydock, no revenue will be generated, Abercrombie's office said.

The Missouri also needs to replace 53,000 square feet of rotting teak deck.

A drydock plan that will maximize the amount of work that can be done still is being finalized.

Abercrombie said the defense bill approved by the House Armed Services Committee has $67.45 million in funding for Hawai'i, including: