Old warship to be sunk to create new reef off Florida

The retired U.S. missile tracking ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg arrives in Key West. The 523-foot-long ship, that once tracked space launches off Cape Canaveral, Fla., and also monitored Soviet missile launches during the Cold War, is to be intentionally

April 2009. The second-largest ex-military ship ever to be sunk in order to create an artificial reef is about to slip beneath the waves off Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) continues to work with its project partners on final preparations for the ex-U.S.S. Hoyt Vandenberg, which will be sunk in late May at a site about 6 miles south-southeast of Key West in 140 feet of water.

The Vandenberg is 523 feet long and will provide recreational diving, ecotourism and fishing possibilities fro visitors to the Florida Keys. The colourful vessel was commissioned in 1943 as a World War II troop transport ship, and later became a missile range instrument ship in the 1960s, defending against missile attacks and tracking rocket and early space shuttle launches.

100 years
The ship is being placed in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key West to help divert fishing pressure and diving pressure away from natural reefs near the ship. The FWC estimates that the vessel's life span of at least 100 years will contribute stable, long-term habitat for scores of marine fish species and provide exceptional diving and fishing opportunities for Florida residents and visitors from around the world.

Locator map of proposed Vandenberg Artificial Reef site off Key West, Fla., in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

"The FWC has played a major role in providing funding and technical assistance for the Vandenberg project since early 2001, including helping the City of Key West secure permits for the ship and performing numerous inspections of the vessel while it is being readied for its safe deployment," said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.