FREEDOM PARK IS CLOSED FOR THE SEASON UNTIL MAY 2024.
For more information on Freedom Park or for scheduling group visits please contact Dennis E Bryers, FASLA, PLA at 402-444-3798 or at dennis.bryers@cityofomaha.org.
Freedom Park serves as a United States Naval Museum on the Missouri River and is home to the USS Marlin SST-2 Submarine and the USS Hazard AM-240 Minesweeper, Anchor & Propeller Garden, Shipboard Rocket Launchers and a Douglas A-4D Skyhawk Jet Fighter and other aircraft.
Admission is free.
There is no water available in the park. There is a handicapped accessible port-a-potty in the park.
Self-guided tours are available most Saturdays from 10 am to 3pm, May through October. Please check the Freedom Park Facebook page for more information. View map and directions HERE.
Displays
Hazard: To run, or take the risk of; to venture upon; dangerous, risky.
(AM-240: dp. 530; I. 184'6"; b 33'; dr. 9'9"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3", 2 40mm. 6 20mm, 2 dct., 3 dep. (hh.); cl. Admirable)
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 WWII.
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.
The USS Hazard received three battle stars for World War II service.
Marlin: large deep-sea game fish
(SST-2: dp. 303 (surf), 347 (sub); l. 131'3"; b. 13'7"; dr.12'2" (mean); s. 10k. (surf), 10.5k (sub); cpl. 14; a. 2 tt; cl. T-1)
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.
