In the middle of Arkansas, a US Navy submarine silently patrols the Arkansas River.
So, what IS a submarine doing in the middle of the Arkansas?
Well, the USS Razorback, named after the whale and not the pig,
has an interesting story...
Commissioned in 1944, she saw action in World War II, including reconnaissance, sinking several ships, taking Japanese POWs, and rescuing downed pilots. She was also one of 12 submarines present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed their surrender.
The USS Razorback was active during the Cold War performing surveillance and training missions. She was decommissioned in 1952 for conversion and upgrades and recommissioned in 1954. She was deployed to the western Pacific during Vietnam and received several service citations.
In 1970, the USS Razorback was decommissioned and transferred to the Turkish Navy. She was decommissioned by the Turkish Navy in 2001. In 2004 the USS Razorback was purchased from Turkey for $37,500 to exhibit at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum. She was towed from Turkey to Gibraltar to Key West to New Orleans then up the Mississippi River to the Arkansas River to North Little Rock where she has been open to the public since 2005.
An interesting fact about the USS Razorback — she is still 90% operational!
The other ship at the location is the tugboat Hoga. She was commissioned in May 1941, and earned her claim to fame during Pearl Harbor. After the attack, the Hoga rescued sailors, fought fires, moved ships, and assisted with clean up. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994, and is currently being restored. The site also has a museum with plenty of artifacts, exhibits on the USS Arkansas BB-33 (battleship) and USS Arkansas CGN-41 (missile cruiser), and memorials for two other submarines: the USS Snook & USS Scorpion.
The cache is magnetic and can be accessed from the parking lot even when the museum is closed. Shouldn't be too hard as hiding spots were limited.
This cache is located in a North Little Rock city park under permit number: 22-g059, issued by North Little Rock Parks and Recreation. Permission to hide the cache has also been kindly granted by the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
Placed in memory of A_No1.