Ship Being Prepped For Final Journey To Key West

The General Hoyt S. Vandenberg Will Be Sunk In May, 2008

The Ship Was Featured In The 2000 Film "Virus"

(CBS4) KEY WEST An historic ship will become a part of Key West – forever.

The decommissioned USS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a World War II-era ship, is being cleaned at a shipyard in Virgina so it can be sunk off Key West next spring. The ship, originally the USS General Harry Taylor in World War II, was re-fitted in 1963 with satellite equipment and renamed the Vandeberg. It then spent the rest of its Air Force career as a missile tracker.

The ship was even featured in the film "Virus" in 2000.

It all goes as planned Reefmakers, based in Moorestown, New Jersey, will turn the 530-foot ship into an artificial reefing by sinking it in about 140 feet of water six miles off shore.

Cleaning and sinking the Vandenberg will cost nearly $6 million. Key West city officials are planning a full week of activities leading up to the sinking which is scheduled for next May.

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