The USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg’s job is not over. This 523-foot ship was built in 1944 (originally the USS General Harry Taylor) and then later converted into a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship. The ship was decomissioned in 1993. After serving many duties in the Pacific and Atlantic, this ship has been selected to be used to build an artificial reef in the Florida Keys.
Personally, I think it’s a great honor to be placed in the reef especially when we have a lot of environmentalists against throwing things in the ocean. One of the reasons why it was selected was for the really cool instruments, radar equipment, and other cool looking things on the top of the ship.
I’m wondering if Guam could do the same. Then we can throw in some dive tours for the tourists. One of the things that caught my eye is that this ship served some duty on Guam.
Long before a Key West dive boat captain embarked on a quest to turn the mothballed USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg into an artificial reef, a typhoon that ravaged Guam in the mid-1970s almost did the job.
For 48 hours, the fearful crew and civilian workers rode out 25-foot waves by tying themselves to desks and chairs, hoping tons of concrete placed at the ship’s bottom would offset the top-heavy load: missile-tracking equipment for spying on the Russians during the Cold War.
From Miami Herald: After many past missions, ship taking on reef duty by Cammy Clark
Oh well, I guess we’ll have to wait for the next typhoon.
