SUBSTANTIAL MONUMENT
USS Oklahoma City submarine would serve as centerpiece of proposed park
The three men who led the establishment of a memorial for the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor are launching a campaign to create a tribute to Oklahoma City’s naval history that will include the sail and reconstruction of the USS Oklahoma City submarine.
The submarine, commissioned in 1988, is set to be taken out of service by 2019. The USS Oklahoma City Park is proposed to be located just west of the Chesapeake Boathouse along the Oklahoma River.
Retired Rear Admiral Greg Slavonik, who is awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation for his U.S. Navy Undersecretary nomination by President Donald Trump, hopes the memorial will educate Oklahomans and visitors about the state’s ongoing contributions to the Navy.
“We live in a landlocked state,” Slavonik said. “We have a rich heritage with individuals who have served in the Navy. I want young people to understand the importance of the Navy in Oklahoma. This is an Oklahoma City project, and located where it is along the river, that will give it high visibility and give young
people the ability to see the length, width and breadth of a submarine.”
Naval leadership archives contain several prominent Oklahomans, including the late civic leaders, Ray Ackerman (rear admiral) and John Kirkpatrick (commander), as well William Crowe, who served as admiral of the U.S. Navy and chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Oklahoma City’s Tinker Air Force Base, meanwhile, is home to a 1,200-person naval aerial submarine support group.
“Retired Two Star Adm. Tom Hall, a native of Barns dall, Oklahoma, served in the same capacity as Greg is going to be serving as undersecretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs,” retired Navy Cmdr. Tucker McHugh said. “It’s a very prestigious slot for Greg Slavonik and I think it bodes well for Oklahoma and who Oklahomans are. The naval presence in Oklahoma has been strong ever since World War II.”
Architect Don Beck, who is doing the design work for free, is presenting plans to the city that show the submarine surrounded by informational displays, a flagpole plaza and monument sign. The submarine is about 360 feet long (larger than a football field) with the sail topping 15 feet.
The memorial is planned to coincide with the decommissioning of the USS Oklahoma City submarine. The sail that tops the submarine would be salvaged and attached to a replica of the hull, which is prohibited from being put on display.
The nonprofit set up to raise about $500,000 for the USS Oklahoma City Park monument reunites Slavonik, Beck and McHugh. The three first teamed up in 2000 to raise $1 million to create a memorial for the USS Oklahoma that was sunk on Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor.
“All the battleships in the harbor that day had memorials, the most prominent being the USS Arizona,” McHugh said. “We recognized there was a deficiency with that. It wasn’t right, so we were going to raise the money and get it built.”
The Pearl Harbor memorial opened in 2007 to coincide with the state’s Centennial celebrations. A few years later, the three prepared to team up again to create the USS Oklahoma City Park as they learned the fast attack nuclear submarine was nearing being decommissioned.
That, in turn, prompted McHugh and Slovonik to also look at honoring the service of the first USS Oklahoma City, a Cleveland-class light cruiser launched in 1944 and then was one of six to be converted into guided missile cruisers during the Vietnam War.
That ship was decommissioned in 1979, but its anchor and bell are among the remnants also set to be displayed at the new park along with the re-creation of the current USS Oklahoma City.
“We thought, wouldn’t it be educational and patriotic to get the actual sail off the submarine?” McHugh said. “That could be a centerpiece to honor all of the USS Oklahoma City ships.”
Oklahoma City civic leaders have maintained close ties to the submarine and its crew over the year with multiple visits and tours of the ship by the mayor and city council. As the ship nears the end of its commission, it does so from its home port in the U.S. Territory of Guam, which is on the front lines in the continued escalation of tension with North Korea.
Neither McHugh or Slavonik could comment on the role the submarine is playing in the ongoing conflict, though McHugh notes each aircraft carrier battle group in the region is accompanied by one to two “submerged” ships and that three battle groups are staying active around the Korean Peninsula.
“They go out, and they stay out with food for 90 days, and they come back,” McHugh said. “And you don’t know where they go.”
Slavonik said Oklahoma City can take pride that its namesake submarine is operating in an area where military preparedness is vital.
“Moving forward, I think the submarines will be one of the main deterrents as we move forward with our national defense strategy,” Slavonik said. “Oklahoma City is forward deployed and operating at the tip of the spear.”