After two decades of effort, a memorial constructed from the remains of a Navy submarine named for the Queen City is ready for its christening. The USS Cincinnati Cold War Memorial Peace Pavilion will be dedicated this weekend.
The Cold War-era memorial in West Chester's Voice of America MetroPark features the conning tower, or sail, from the former USS Cincinnati submarine, along with the sub's rudder, which is about 17-feet tall and 13-feet wide, and the back-up diesel engine, which was painted red and referred to as the "Big Red Machine" in homage to the Reds' baseball team lineup in the '70s.
The design is 360-feet long and meant to resemble a full-scale submarine in dry dock through which visitors can walk. It cost $9.5 million.
"Our motto for the memorial is 'Peace Is Our Purpose' " says local attorney and Navy veteran Joe Jaap.
"It's a work of art; it's a monument. It represents the investment our country made during the Cold War."
Jaap has been instrumental in getting the memorial built, reaching out to the military in the early 2000s about the possibility of acquiring the submarine after it was decommissioned.
"Nobody had ever really asked for the donation of a nuclear-powered submarine," he tells WVXU. "Eventually the Navy told us, 'No, we can't do that. It's nuclear-powered; it's classified.' We knew we could get pieces, so we recalibrated, and we did manage to get about 100 tons of USS Cincinnati."
Events this weekend and next
There are a handful of public and private ceremonies planned May 15-17. Around 120 of the estimated 1,000 sailors who served aboard the USS Cincinnati during its 18 years in service are expected to be in West Chester for this weekend's dedication.
"We've got a flag raising ceremony just for the crew in the early morning hours, so they have the honor of being part of this initial flag raising," says Jaap. "Then (another) submarine collected water when it was submerged for us, so we're going to re-wet the submarine with water from the Atlantic Ocean."
The USS Cincinnati was a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine that was commissioned in 1978 and decommissioned in 1996.
Cincinnati-native Nancy Keating — wife of then-U.S. Rep. Bill Keating — christened the ship on February 19, 1977. Her daughter, Susie Keating Lame, will recreate that moment this weekend, christening the memorial with a new bottle of Champagne.
The submarine's final commanding officer will be in town to provide remarks.
"He brought us several artifacts that he was able to save all these years," Jaap says.
The public dedication on Saturday, May 16, begins at 1 p.m. following the private ceremonies. The site will be open until 8 p.m., with food trucks, music and activities. Tour guides will be on-hand to discuss the history of the USS Cincinnati on May 16 and 17. They'll also be available Memorial Day weekend, May 23-25 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
"Our tour guides will be there to guide people through, answer their questions and relate to them what it's like to live on board a submarine hundreds of feet under the surface," says Jaap.
The USS Cincinnati Cold War Memorial Peace Pavilion further aims to connect the submarine's story with that of Greater Cincinnati and the companies and places that are part of the nation's Cold War efforts, like GE Aerospace and Fernald, which processed uranium for weapons.
Jerry Reynolds was a Navy Machinist Mate 1st class. He served on the USS Cincinnati from 1971-1979, and was a "plank owner," meaning he was an original crew member with the ship in the shipyard as it was being finished and made seaworthy. He came from Florida for the groundbreaking in July 2024.
"I'm feeling excited; I feel really good about the whole thing," he told WVXU, adding he thinks the site near the VOA Museum is a fitting location.
USS Cincinnati history
Five Navy vessels have carried the name "Cincinnati." The most recent, commissioned in October 2019, is an Independence-variant littoral combat ship. As WVXU previously reported, the ship includes two LM2500 marine, gas turbine engines built at the GE Aviation (now GE Aerospace) in Evendale. "Each LM2500 engine produces over 29,500 horsepower, propelling the ship to speeds in excess of 40 knots, or 46 miles per hour," GE says.
The other four (plus one USS Queen City) include:
- USS Cincinnati (1861) was an ironclad river gunboat commissioned in 1862 that sunk twice in battle and raised each time. It was sold in 1866.
- USS Cincinnati (C-7) was a protected cruiser in service from 1894 to 1919.
- USS Cincinnati (CL-6) was a light cruiser commissioned in 1924, on patrols in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, and scrapped in 1946.
- USS Cincinnati (SSN-693) was a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine in service from 1978 to 1996.
- USS Queen City (Tinclad #26) commissioned in April 1863 and ultimately blown up and destroyed by Confederate forces.
(Information courtesy of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati.)
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