It won't be a long move in terms of distance — a journey of just about two miles — but the USS Missouri's trip this morning from historic Battleship Row to Pearl Harbor's Naval Shipyard for drydock repairs has been more than two years in the planning.

Michael A. Carr, president and chief operating officer of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, will be among about 35 people riding the World War II-era battleship as it untethers from Ford Island's Pier Foxtrot 5 for the first time since it arrived in Hawaiian waters 11 years ago to start its new life as a floating museum, sitting bow to bow with its sunken sister warship, the USS Arizona.

The "Mighty Mo" will have no power, lights or running water this morning when four tugboats push and pull the ship away from Foxtrot 5 around 7 a.m. and direct it into Drydock 4, the shipyard's largest of four drydocks.

"We're in the hands of the docking masters and the people of the shipyard who have done this many, many times — but never with something this big," Carr said. "There are many, many eyes watching us, not just locally but nationally. We're handing this national treasure to the people at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. You can be sure they'll spend extra time and care with this old lady."

The trip is expected to last only about two hours. But the people on board the Missouri may be stuck for as long as 14 hours, as dozens of workers, divers, people manning the Missouri's mooring lines and others line up the 54,899-ton warship exactly right over 310, 8,000-pound keel blocks to ensure the Missouri sits perfectly square when it's high and dry in the empty drydock.

Once the Missouri is inside the drydock and an enormous portable, floating wall — or caisson — is in place, it could take more than six hours to drain all 53.4 million gallons of seawater.

"Once you're on the ship, you're stuck until the ship is sitting hard on the blocks," Carr said. "I wouldn't miss it. This is a rare occasion to ride the Missouri."

Employees of the shipyard are equally excited to be working on such a historic battleship, said Navy Capt. Gregory R. Thomas, commander of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

"We have prepared for the Missouri drydocking for more than a year," Thomas said. "We trained hard, studied the challenges thoroughly and built a great Navy-contractor team ready to jump into action at first light. Part of our excitement is that we walk in the shadow of the shipyard workers who resurrected the U.S. fleet from the bottom of Pearl Harbor in World War II. We will live up to their legacy as we care for this World War II treasure and we will make them proud."

The bulk of the $18 million repair work will be spent grinding the hull and superstructure and repainting it battleship gray, not terribly glamorous work, the results of which will hardly be noticed by a new generation of visitors.

"Most people won't be able to tell we did anything," Carr said. "But for ships that live in marine environments, it is absolutely essential to ensure that the ship has a long, long life as a historical treasure and resource — not only for the people of Hawai'i but for the people of the world."

The Missouri is scheduled to remain in drydock until Jan. 7 and resume tours on Jan. 29.

Its place in U.S. naval history was sealed on Sept. 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, when a Japanese delegation ended World War II by offering its unconditional surrender on the Missouri's starboard side, a spot now called the "surrender deck."

In July of this year, the USS Missouri attracted 48,111 visitors — its biggest month ever since it tied up to Ford Island on June 22, 1998.

Ever since, the Missouri has remained one of Hawai'i's 10 most popular tourist attractions.