NLR gearing up for sub’s arrival
Razorback’s homecoming set for July 18, 2004

Since 06-11-04

BY JAKE SANDLIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
4 June 2004

North Little Rockwill welcome the USS Razorback "home" July 18 with a riverfront celebration of its arrival, city officials said this week.

   The event will come almost one month after the submarine that served in World War II and the Vietnam War docks in New Orleans following its 45-day trip from Turkey.

   The submarine is being towed by tugboat across the Atlantic Ocean where today it is about eight days of travel from Key West, Fla. Key West is to be the submarine’s first scheduled stop in the United States in 34 years.

   Barring any delays, the boat will continue through the Gulf of Mexico after a day of maintenance, arriving in New Orleans on June 19 in time for a 2 p.m. ceremony at the Julia Street cruise ship terminal near the French Quarter, city officials said.

   But the Razorback won’t be considered "home" until it reaches North Little Rock a month later by river tug, said Karen Trevino, the executive director of the city’s Advertising and Promotion Commission.

   The city acquired the submarine from Turkey to anchor a $15 million Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum proposed by Mayor Patrick Hays as a way to entice tourism and development in the city’s downtown riverfront.

   While a ceremony is being held for the sub in New Orleans, North Little Rock officials are planning to hold the primary celebration at the Razorback’s new berth. "We want this to be North Little Rock’s event," Trevino said. "The big celebration is to be here. North Little Rock’s event will be the USS Razorback’s American homecoming."

   In 1970, the U.S. Navy sold the submarine to Turkey, where it served nearly 30 years in the Turkish navy as the Murat Reis. The Razorback name — although a bonus for recognition because of the state’s University of Arkansas Razorbacks — comes from a reddish whale.

   The submarine will be moored beside two barges on the Arkansas River just west of the Interstate 30 bridge until the museum is built. The Pearl Harbor tugboat USS Hoga also will be part of the museum.

   During its trip from New Orleans to North Little Rock, the submarine is tentatively scheduled to be at the July 16 dedication of the $262 million Montgomery Point Lock and Dam near the White River’s confluence with the Mississippi River. The sub’s participation may depend on other river stops yet to be set.

   "If they can get it there in time, we can certainly include it as part of the ceremony," U.S. Corps of Engineers spokesman P.J. Spaul said.

   Up to two other stops along the Mississippi River or Arkansas River are possible, Hays said, if a city will help out with fuel expenses and not assess docking charges

   "We’ll make those decisions as we finalize the plans as to how we get from New Orleans to North Little Rock," Hays said.

   Each stop from Key West takes on more importance as the submarine edges closer to its new home in North Little Rock, Hays said.

   "Key West is what I refer to as the ‘informal’ arrival," Hays said of the short time the Razorback will dock there for refueling and cosmetic work after the ocean tow. "We’ll put her number [SS-394 ] on her. When she arrives in New Orleans, she’ll be a little better dressed up."

   Tours of the submarine during any stop have yet to be cleared with the U.S. Coast Guard, said Greg Zonner of Little Rock, a submarine veteran who has helped coordinate acquisition of the Razorback.

   "The Coast Guard has some rules for public viewing," Zonner said. "We’re trying to get a list of the Coast Guard requirements."

   There are also liability and security issues, besides the governmental regulations, that may affect access to the sub in Key West, New Orleans and, for a while, North Little Rock, Hays said.

   North Little Rock’s Visitors Bureau is organizing a motorcoach trip to New Orleans to greet the Razorback. The round trip, from June 18-20, includes two nights’ stay at the Ambassador Hotel. The trip costs $305 per person, while someone sharing a room would pay only the $100 motorcoach cost.

   "We want everybody who wants to go to be involved," Trevino said. "It’s open to anyone."

   Travelers can sign up with the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau by calling (501) 758-1424 or (800) 643-4690 through Tuesday afternoon. A minimum of 25 people are needed to rent the motorcoach, Trevino added. Others who make their own arrangements with the hotel can still receive the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau’s special rate by Tuesday.

   In New Orleans, the switch will be made from ocean tug to river tug. Work also will be done to reduce the Razorback’s 12- to 13-foot draft — the depth of water the boat draws — to a maximum 10 feet on the rivers.

   For that work, the Razorback will be moved after three or four days from the Julia Street wharf to an industrial pier, Zonner said.

   "We can’t really do that there [at the viewing wharf]," Zonner said. "It’ll have to be where we can pull in and get some work done and be out of the limelight."