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On 24 December 1975, the City of
Buffalo announced plans to establish a naval and servicemen's park and museum
on a six-acre waterfront site on the Buffalo River at its juncture with Lake
Erie. The project envisioned the acquisition of several decommissioned Navy
surface ships, a submarine, PT boat, fighter aircraft and other memorabilia
to be featured as a permanent memorial to honor the men and women who served
in the Armed Forces during World War II and the post WW II period of the
Cold War.
The project was lead by Buffalo City Court Judge Anthony P. LoRusso, a Navy League member and chairman of the advisory committee for the Buffalo Naval and Servicemen's Park and Museum. Other key committee members were Louis J. Clabeaux, Jr., Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency and Project Officer for Ship Transfers, Charles L. Yeager, President of the Buffalo Council of the Navy League, and Thomas J. Reardon, Port of Buffalo Harbormaster and Supervisor for the Transfer of Ships from Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to Buffalo. Funding for the park and museum project was provided principally from the U.S. Economic Development Administration as part of federal urban renewal development projects in the Buffalo area. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) announced on 18 August 1976 that USS Little Rock (CG-4) was to be decommissioned later that Fall. The 31 year old Little Rock had grown too old to operate effectively, and too tired to be overhauled economically. It was the end of the line for one of the best and most highly regarded "high-profile ships" in the US Navy. At the time of the CNO decommissioning announcement, Little Rock was serving as Flagship of the Sixth Fleet and was homeported in Gaeta, Italy. She had been serving as COMSIXTHFLT flagship in the Mediterranean since August 1973. In late summer 1976, Little Rock returned to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation, lay-up and ultimate disposition. The CNO announced on 18 August 1976 that USS Little Rock (CG-4) would be decommissioned and stricken from the Naval vessel register on 22 November 1976. During the early months of 1976, the Servicemen's Park Committee presented their plan to the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA). Through lengthy and tedious coordination, and meanwhile searching for support from other interested groups and individuals, the plan was formalized and presented to the Department of Navy. The Navy formally agreed to donate two decommissioned ships to Buffalo for display in a naval park. A team from Buffalo, headed by Louis J. Clabeaux of BURA, proceeded to Philadelphia to make the necessary ship transfer arrangements. BURA 's Clabeaux discovered that the WW II destroyer USS The Sullivans (DD-537) was available for donation from the Navy. The Sullivans was named after the five Sullivan brothers who died during WW II when their ship, the cruiser USS Juneau, was sunk on 14 November 1942 during the battle for Guadalcanal. But Buffalo's luck didn't end there with the green shamrock on The Sullivans stack. While Clabeaux was in Philadelphia at the Naval Shipyard to inspect the destroyer, the guided missile cruiser Little Rock, fresh from duties in the Mediterranean, was steaming into port for decommissioning. As Little Rock made her approach for mooring, the shipyard official turned to Clabeaux and asked, "How would you like her for your naval park?" The offer was not given or taken lightly. The Little Rock was destined to be decommissioned and stricken from the naval vessel register as The Sullivans already had been. That made her eligible for donation. On 3 February 1977, John J. Bennett, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, wrote Vice President Walter Mondale informing him the Navy had no further use for The Sullivans and Little Rock and agreed to give them to Buffalo. Vice President Mondale, as President of the Senate, notified the House and Senate Armed Services committees of the Navy's plans. The two congressional committees posed no objections to the ship's transfer to Buffalo. Judge LoRusso said he was especially pleased with the Little Rock, which he said, "is in great shape because it just came out of service." According to the Navy, it was the first time two ships had ever been donated to the same recipient at the same time. The actual ship transfer to Buffalo was arranged under a $250,000 state grant by Buffalo's Urban Renewal Agency, coordinated by BURA Director Louis J. Clabeaux. On 29 June 1977, two sea-going tugs and 15 volunteer crewmen began their journey of 2,180 nautical miles, towing the 376 foot, 2,050 ton The Sullivans and the 610 foot, 10,700 ton Little Rock from Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, up the Atlantic coast, through the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Welland Canal to Buffalo. To permit transit under hanging power lines straddling the Welland locks, about 95 feet of the Little Rock's masts and radar antennas were cut down by her volunteer crewmen in Philadelphia and secured on the after-missile deck for the voyage. On the night of 1 July, Little Rock almost collided with another ship in heavy fog. The two tugs, invisible in the fog, radioed that Little Rock was on a collision course with another vessel. Then radio communications ceased. The onboard emergency flares failed to ignite. The entire crew then directed flashlight beams toward the other ship and sounded fog horns. Finally, the other ship sighted Little Rock and maneuvered away. The eight crewmen who manned Little Rock in a "Cold Iron" condition endured significant hardships during the 17-day voyage. Except for the night before departure, when a bilge pump was hooked to afire hose, there was no fresh water. Dishes were wiped, not washed. The crew sometimes slept only four hours during the voyage. After a long and tedious tow, Little Rock entered the Buffalo harbor channel at 9:25 p.m. and by 11:00 p.m., Friday 15 July 1977, was moored stern-to-stern with The Sullivans, which had arrived earlier on 4 July. As two retired Navy warships towered in the background, Buffalo's civic leaders, along with Navy officials, and a crowd of 3,000 gathered near the foot of Main St. at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, 17 July 1977, to dedicate the city's new Naval and Servicemen 's Park. Congressman Henry J. Nowak, 37th Congressional District, announced that $1.4 million in federal funds had been approved by the U.S. Economic Development Administration for developing the Park. The principal Navy speaker was Rear Admiral Gordon R. Nagler, USN, Deputy Director, Command and Control and Communications (C3) Programs, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OP-094B) and former Little Rock Commanding Officer 1971-1972. Also speaking for the Navy was Mr. Stephen C. Yednock, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, whose office receives, negotiates, and finally issues the contracts for ship transfers approved by the Secretary of the Navy. Among the assembled welcoming crowd were two former Little Rock crew members, Burdett Rust and Brian Nicholas. They had last seen the ship when they completed their tours in Gaeta, Italy in 1974. "If someone told me then that the next time I' d see the Little Rock, she would be moored off Main St., I would have told him he was nuts," Rust said. Also in the crowd was former Chief Warrant Boatswain, (CWO-4-retired) Marvin Curry of Lawtons, NY. CHBOSN Curry had served as Little Rock's "Ships Bosn" from 1966 to 1970. Before leaving the ceremony, CNBOSN Curry was introduced to city officials as the most highly qualified person in the world to care for Little Rock in her new role as the centerpiece for the Buffalo Naval and Servicemen' s Park. Shortly thereafter, CHBOSN Curry signed a contract with the City of Buffalo, and with a crew of 15, maintained her and the other ships for 20 years until his retirement from the Park in 1998. (Submitted by CDR John E. Conjura, USN-Ret,
Little Rock Communications Officer 1969-1972)
Republished from LitComs Spring 2001 Issue |
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