Omaha Exploration

Freedom Park is a U.S. Naval Museum located in Omaha that not many people aren’t aware of. It is located northeast of downtown along the Missouri River on Abbott Drive. The park opened on a 12-acre site in East Omaha in 1974 next to the former River Club Marina which was later renamed as the Greater Omaha Marina. It was funded by a combination of federal and private funds and run by the Greater Omaha Military Historical Society.

Its main attractions includes one the smallest submarines ever built in addition to a minesweeper which was a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines and a single seat attack aircraft. The USS Marlin was a 131-foot training submarine dating back to the Cold War. The USS Hazard was a World War II minesweeper that served in the Pacific Theater. The Douglas A-4D Skyhawk Jet Fighter was developed following World War II and used during Vietnam.

The initial plans for Freedom Park were quite ambitious and included a museum beneath a domed structure and a paddlewheel riverboat which had belonged to the Corps of Engineer. 

The park was dedicated “In honor of those who served, in tribute to those who perished and in gratitude to those now serving.” It was free to enter but there was an admission charge to enter the vessels. It was expected to compliment the city’s ongoing Riverfront Development Program with Mayor Ed Zorinsky stating it would become a major tourist attraction. 

In 1982 a new gazebo with an upper level bandstand and lower level offices and restrooms was constructed. After that though, it seems that progress at the park stalled due to a lack of funding. One primary reason is that the city said its practice of selling pickles at various bars across town was in violation of state law. As a result, the money raised for maintenance and improvements of the park dropped from $65,000 in 1983 to around $12,000 the next year as it had to rely on the admission and donations. 

Afterwards there was a proposal to incorporate a 200-foot long, 70-foot high memorial called the “Symbol of Freedom”. There had been talk of adding the Captain Merriwether Lewis as a floating museum which ended up in Brownville. Improvements to the park were discussed in 1995 which would have included camp sites, hiking and bike trails and picnic tables. A museum was even proposed again in 1996 which would have included a research library, theater, artifacts, educational programming and displays. None of those proposals came to fruition due at least, in part, to the funding issues that have plagued the park since it opened.

The park was successful in adding a fourth major attraction in 1998 when it added a LSM-45, a transport vessel from World War I that was used to ferry men, tanks, and supplies around the Pacific. Due to legal disputes and a settlement, however, it was relocated to North Carolina six years later. 

The operators of the park proposed moving it to Miller’s Landing in 1998. The 28-acre site was donated to the county by Ed Miller Sr after he passed away in 1985. The relocation of the park could have helped it become the attraction that was originally envisioned when it opened. It would also allow room to expand, provide easier access, increase exposure and remove it from the floodplain. 

Those plans never came to pass and the park which had long been impacted by flooding along the Missouri River was forced to close in 2011. After a major restoration and cleanup effort, the park reopened four years later in 2015. Ever since then there have been rumors that the park may relocate to Iowa. 

For now though, the park which is a National Historic Landmark and a U.S. Naval Museum is now run by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department. Due to a shortage of funding and a lack of volunteers it is only open on Saturdays from May until October.

While the park lacks signage along Abbott Drive, a problem that can hopefully be solved soon, it is worth the drive along the riverfront to check out the only Naval museum in Nebraska and one of few in the United States that are this far inland.

Please feel free to comment to share your thoughts and memories.

Until next time, keep exploring!

USS Hazard

The USS Hazard (AM-240) was launched on 1 October 1944 by the Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Corporation of Windslow, WA. The Hazard was fitted for both wire and acoustic sweeping and could double as an anti-submarine warfare platform. The Admirable-class minesweepers were also used for patrol and escort duties during World War II.

The USS Hazard first served as an escort from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, then running convoys to Eniwetok and Ulithi. In March 1945, the ship was sent to Okinawa to perform anti-submarine patrols before sweeping the waters off Kerama Retto. The ship’s slogan was “No Sweep, No Invasion.”

The USS Hazard was decommissioned in 1946 and struck from Navy records in 1971. Hazard was then purchased in 1971 by a group of Omaha businessmen and placed on display in Freedom Park. It is the only Admirable-class minesweeper left in the United States.

USS Marlin

The USS Marlin was laid down on May 1, 1952, by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation and launched on October 14, 1953. One of the smallest operational submarines ever built for the Navy, Marlin performed as a target and training ship for fifteen years.

On May 15, 1956, the submarine deployed to Guantanamo Bay for services to the Fleet Training Group and in 1963, Marlin participated in the NSIA demonstration. After 1963, she performed mainly target duty for both surface and air antisubmarine using at the Fleet Sonar School in Key West. In 1965, she joined a fleet of subs along with a task force in participating in mine warfare maneuvers.

The USS Marlin was decommissioned on January 31, 1973, in a ceremony at the Naval Station, Key West, Florida. It was brought to Freedom Park in June 1974

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