Saturday, July 28, 2007

A minesweeper in... Omaha?

My father was a military man. He served in the Navy during WWII. He a Lieutenant Commander and the pinnacle of his career was as the captain of a ship known as a "minesweeper". He served/commanded on at least 3 different U.S. minesweepers; the USS Lance, the USS Scrimmage and the USS Admirable.
He didn't talk much about his experiences, but he was very proud of his service to his country.
I have always wanted to see the ships he commanded, but the minesweeper became obsolete after WWII and many of them were traded to China. The most famous British minesweeper became one of the most well-known research vessels in the world. Anyone remember the "Calypso"?
Anyway, I found that there is only one Admirable class minesweeper left in the U.S. It is the USS Hazard, and it is planted in the ground in Omaha, NE! I saw it a few years ago and was really looking forward to a return visit while I was in Omaha for a Nationwide Tour event. I arrived at the park only too see it closed up and the sign below:
The locked up entrance
So Close!But there was hope! I saw a man mowing the grass at the property next door and he told me that the owner of the park had passed away and his family had no interest in the park so it had been closed for about 2 years. He also told me that a tree had recently fallen on the fence near the back of the property...I'm in! I didn't spend too much time as I didn't really want to have to explain anything to the local constable. I did get a few pics and walked around a bit. The ship was locked up, and hadn't had much attention, but she still looked proud!Another lonely war veteranThe birds were making good use of the jet.Prop gardenCan I recycle this?

No comments: