Officials break ground on USS Oklahoma City memorial

Published on September 23, 2026

City officials broke ground Wednesday on the new USS Oklahoma City Navy Memorial on the banks of the Oklahoma River.

The memorial honors the legacies of the USS Oklahoma City submarine and naval cruiser. Construction recently began and includes a plaza, service memorial walls, narrative history panels and a temporary replica of the submarine sail.

“This submarine is about defending our nation and protecting our freedoms,” Councilman Mark Stonecipher said to the audience, which included veterans who served on the USS Oklahoma City. Stonecipher was present for the decommissioning of the submarine in 2022.

The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine was commissioned July 9, 1988, and declared out of service Feb.10, 2022. At 361-feet long and displacing more than 6,900 tons, the USS Oklahoma City supported various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The sub’s home port was Guam, and the motto is “The Sooner, The Better.” It was the first submarine to upgrade from traditional paper navigation to an all-electronic navigation suite, marking the first significant shift in U.S. Navy navigation practices since the introduction of GPS in the 1990s.

Former Mayor Ron Norick was also on hand. Norick commissioned the submarine in 1988.

“The thing I think I remember most about being on the sub was the professionalism, how smart, and how polite those young sailors were,” said Norick, who served as mayor of Oklahoma City from 1987 to 1998. “It was unbelievable.”

The USS Oklahoma City Park Association, a nonprofit association, is raising funds to bring the original submarine sail and dive planes from the USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723) and components of the USS Oklahoma City (CL-5, CG/CLG) cruiser, such as the ship’s bell, screw and ceremonial cannon, for long-term display in Wiley Post Park.

“This will make it a learning facility for our young people to understand how important the Navy is to a landlocked state,” retired Admiral Greg Slavonic said.

The $4.1 million project is funded by Tax Increment Financing. The memorial is the second phase of the Wiley Post Park renovations and sits inside the north section of Wiley Post Park near the intersection of Robinson Avenue and SW 15th Street. It is designed by Beck Design and built by Libbert Bros. Inc.

“The story of the USS Oklahoma City is unbelievable,” OKC Parks Director Melinda McMillan-Miller said. “The service it had, the people it impacted, and carrying on the legacy of service – we all reap the benefit of that.”

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