It is not often the gets to go down
with the ship and it’s a happy event, but that’s what happened two weeks ago off
Key West, FL when the 523’ USS Vandenberg was sunk with 44 blasting charges (think
that was enough?). The city of Key West paid $1.35 million for the privilege of
sinking this 65-year-old pile of floating scrap to make an artificial reef and dive
site in 140 of water. She sank in less than 2 minutes, the culmination of three
days of pre-sinking festivities which were kicked off with free mojitos at the Guy
Harvey Grill.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what its like going down with the ship, without actually taking that fatal plunge, then we’ve got the video for you.

See the video…

The following is a timeline of the Vandenberg's service courtesy of keysnet.com
• 1943: The 523-foot ship is built and launched by Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond,
Calif.



• 1944: The Navy acquires the vessel and commissions her the USS Gen. Harry Taylor;
subsequently, the ship serves as a troop transport vessel during World War II, making
ports of call in places such as San Francisco, New Guinea, Pearl Harbor, Guam and
the Marshall Islands.

• 1945: On Aug. 5, the Taylor's en route from the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal,
to participate in an invasion of Japan.



• 1945: On Aug. 15, victory over Japan is announced so the Taylor is redirected
to New York City. She is the first ship home from the war.



• 1945-1946: Following the war, the Taylor serves as a so-called "magic carpet,"
transporting American service men and women, along with refugees, to New York City
from France, Germany, Egypt and India.



• 1958: The Taylor is placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Texas following
more than a decade of going in and out of commission and being transferred from
one defense agency to another.

• 1963: Following refurbishment, the Air Force recommissions the Taylor as the USS
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Vandenberg was a fighter pilot for the Air Force in World
War II, a director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Air Force chief of staff.



• 1965-1975: The Vandenberg serves as a missile tracking ship in the Pacific.



• 1977-1982: After having an instrument upgrade, she tracks missile and space shuttle
launches in Cape Canaveral.

• 1983: The Vandenberg is transferred to the mothball fleet on the James
River in Virginia and struck from the Navy ship registry in 1993.



• 1996: The Vandenberg is leased to Universal Studios for the filming of
"Virus" starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

• 1999: Artificial Reefs of the Florida Keys forms to bring the Vandenberg
to Key West for eventual scuttling as an artificial reef.



• 2000-2008: ARK works with Key West, Monroe County and state and federal authorities
to secure funding -- more than $8 million when all was said and done -- and the
ship is stripped of pollutants in preparation for scuttling.

• 2008: In December, a federal judge orders the Vandenberg to be auctioned
to satisfy a lien filed by the shipyard and subcontractors that prepared the vessel
for scuttling. First State Bank officials go to Norfolk, Va., for the auction and
pony up $1.35 million to secure the ship for the Keys.



• 2009: The Vandenberg is towed into Key West in late April and takes the
plunge, seven miles south of Key West in 140 feet of water.