It is the most shameful aspect of our species that we have a bent to murder. Step back from the history book and ask yourself, “Why are all these wars in here? Why are there so many? What is the common denominator of all casi bellorum throughout history?” This list explores the last official endings of nine wars, listed in no particular order, to illustrate the relief that surely followed each ceasefire.
Last Official Shots Overview
9 American Revolutionary War Unknown British Ship
Ralph Waldo Emerson famously called the first shot of the American Revolution “the shot heard ’round the world,” fired at Lexington Green on April 19, 1775. The final blast came on November 25, 1783, when a British frigate in New York harbor unleashed a cannonball toward a crowd on Staten Island’s eastern beach.
At that moment General George Washington rode his horse at the head of the Continental Army down Broadway toward the Battery, while the city erupted in triumphant celebration. The British, finally forced to leave America, were mocked by thousands as they set sail for the open sea.
In a symbolic act of defiance, the British nailed the Union Jack to the top of a 20‑foot flagpole and greased it to prevent climbing. After several attempts, American soldier John van Arsdale added cleats, scaled the pole, tore down the Jack, and hoisted the Betsy Ross flag. While the crowd roared, the British ship fired its last act of defiance, sending a nine‑pound ball 400 yards into the ocean. The British departed, only to return years later.
8 Vietnam War USS Turner Joy (1973)
While the Vietnam War’s dramatic conclusion is often linked to the fall of Saigon in 1975, President Lyndon Johnson officially ended U.S. involvement by 1973. The war began with the semi‑fabricated Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, and it is poetic that the cruiser USS Turner Joy fired the last official American shot.
On December 31, after a resupply stop at Subic Bay, Turner Joy crossed the South China Sea and supported South Vietnamese and American ground forces for the next twenty‑eight days. Over ten thousand five‑inch shells pounded enemy positions until 6:00 AM on January 28, 1973 (midnight GMT). The final shell was fired to the second, striking its target forty seconds later, after which the cease‑fire negotiated with North Vietnam took effect.
Subsequently, Turner Joy helped clear mines from Haiphong Harbor, but the South Vietnamese could not stop the North’s advance. In April 1975, Saigon fell, and President Nguyễn Văn Thieu accused the United States of betraying South Vietnam.
7 War of 1812 USS Peacock
Thirty years after the Revolution, Britain still hadn’t fully accepted its defeat. While wrestling with Napoleon in Europe and fighting in India, Britain found itself embroiled in the War of 1812 with the United States. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, essentially restoring the status quo ante bellum.
Because communications were slow, the war’s official end didn’t halt all naval actions. In the Sunda Strait south of Sumatra, USS Peacock, under Master Commandant Lewis Warrington, encountered the British sixteen‑gun schooner Nautilus, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Boyce. Boyce claimed a truce had been signed, but Warrington opened fire with a single 32‑pounder.
The blast killed two seasick European civilians, one British sailor, and three Indian militiamen, while wounding about four American crew members. Boyce produced the signed Treaty of Ghent, and Warrington let the Nautilus go, sailing home after the brief, tragic engagement.
6 Gulf War USS Wisconsin
The Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) officially began on January 17, 1991, after Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait. The United States responded with a massive air campaign—88,500 tons of high explosives and incendiaries—followed by M1 Abrams tanks that decimated Iraqi armor without suffering a single casualty.
Allied forces lost about seven hundred men, while Iraqi casualties ranged from 20,000 to 35,000. The final salvo came from the battleship USS Wisconsin on February 28, when it fired three sixteen‑inch explosive projectiles at a fuel dump just over the Kuwaiti border in Iraq. This marks the last time an American battleship saw combat.
5 Apache Wars Unknown American Corporal
The Apache Wars, a subset of the broader American Indian Wars, spanned from the 1620s to 1924. After decades of intermittent conflict, the final recorded armed encounter occurred on January 9, 1918. A cavalry detachment of roughly thirty men responded to a farmer’s report of mutilated livestock.
The soldiers sent scouts to a ridge where they spotted about thirty Yaqui Indians—Allied with the Apache—hiding among boulders. An ambush erupted, but only one Indian was killed. The corporal who delivered the lethal shot remains unnamed, though he managed to hit his target as the warrior ran between rocks.
Subsequent minor skirmishes between the U.S. and other tribes produced few, if any, shots. This 1918 engagement stands as the last known shot fired by or against the Apache or their allies.
4 American Civil War CSS Shenandoah (CSA)
The American Civil War, often called the War of Northern Aggression by the South, introduced modern warfare technologies such as the Gatling gun and repeating rifles. With a population of 31.5 million, the war claimed over 620,000 lives—about two percent of the nation.
After General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, news didn’t reach the Confederate cruiser CSS Shenandoah until August 2. Based out of Liverpool, England, Shenandoah had been tasked with seizing or sinking Union merchant vessels and had captured thirty‑eight without losing a crewman.
On June 28, 1865, in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia, Shenandoah attacked a Union whaling fleet, destroying or capturing ten vessels, the last being the Waverly. Shortly thereafter, the ship learned of Lee’s surrender, struck its colors, and sailed to England to surrender, avoiding execution of its crew.
3 WWI Two Unknown German Machine Gun Squads
World War I finally shattered the old notion of glorious battlefield charges. The war’s brutal stalemate culminated on July 1, 1916, when the British Fourth Army marched into the lethal crossfire of German machine‑gun nests at the Somme, suffering massive casualties.
Two years later, with Germany exhausted, the armistice took effect on November 11, 1918, at 11:00 AM French time. In the Belgian town of Ville‑sur‑Haine, Canadian soldier George Price was fatally shot by a German sniper just three minutes before the cease‑fire.
Only two minutes later, about 150 miles south, American Private Henry Nicholas John Gunther and his squad approached a German machine‑gun roadblock in Chaumont‑devant‑Damvilliers, France. The Germans warned them that the war would end in sixty seconds. Determined to redeem his demoted rank, Gunther charged on foot, firing one or two shots before the German squads opened fire for two seconds, nearly cutting him in half.
2 WWII: Europe PFC Domenic Mozzetta (USA)
The 97th Infantry Division entered the European Theater in March 1945, joining the push against the dwindling German forces. By April, the division was sweeping through the Ruhr River Valley, encircling roughly 300,000 German prisoners of war.
In the chaotic final days, PFC Domenic Mozzetta, serving with Baker Company of the 387th Regiment, was patrolling three kilometers northwest of Klenovice when a German sniper opened fire. The bullet snapped a tent pole; Mozzetta returned fire four times, striking the sniper, who fell from a tree. Five minutes later, the European theater of World War II officially ceased hostilities.
1 WWII: Pacific USS Torsk (USA)
After the atomic devastation of Hiroshima, the Japanese war council vowed to fight to the death. When the Soviet Union entered the war on August 9, senior Japanese officers attempted to impose martial law to block peace negotiations. Eleven hours later, Nagasaki was obliterated, and Emperor Hirohito announced an unconditional surrender.
Although the surrender order took until August 15 to reach all American vessels in the Pacific, the final shot of the entire Second World War was not a bullet but a torpedo. The submarine USS Torsk, commanded by Bafford Lewellen, was hunting a cargo ship escorted by a frigate off Kasumi Ko, north of Honshu’s southwest coast. After sinking the frigate, Torsk fired a second Mark 27 electric torpedo at another frigate, tearing it apart.
Following the engagement, Torsk remained submerged for over seven hours before surfacing. The next morning, Commander Lewellen received word that Japan had surrendered, bringing the deadliest conflict in human history to a close.