Vandenberg: Turning a Relic Into a Reef
A retired military ship that had been rusting away on a Virginia river for almost a quarter-century is to be intentionally sunk off Key West by mid-2008 to serve as a new habitat for marine life.
And to commemorate the scheduled arrival of the newest artificial reef in the region, the Florida Keys & Key West has created a collector's lapel pin featuring Key West artist David Harrison Wright's interpretation of what the former U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg should look like after it is scuttled in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The first 500 industry professionals who register at the Keys DEMA pavilion will receive the pin and also be entered in the destination's traditional "Drive and Dive" contest that offers dive charters for two people in each Keys region, accommodations, a rental car to use for one week to travel the Florida Keys Overseas Highway and a full set of ScubaPro dive equipment.
The 523-foot Vandenberg, which tracked Mercury and Gemini spacecraft blastoffs, is being cleansed from stem to stern to remove all contaminants by personnel from Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va.
The prime attraction of the Vandenberg, according to project organizer Joe Weatherby of Reefmakers, is its huge size and diversified structure that should appeal to divers of all skill levels.
"The ship has a lot of heavy structure up high in the water column," Weatherby said. "There's going to be 10 or 11 places along the entire length of the ship where it will come up to within about 40 feet of the surface. That's a lot more area for a rookie to explore."
Weatherby also pointed out sections of the ship that would appeal to divers with advance certification to dive in deep environments beneath overhead structures.
"There are about six or eight places on the ship that have great, big wide areas that go from the decks, all the way down to the keel," he said. "We came up with the Vandenberg from a list of about 400 ships, because the Vandenberg seems to offer a little bit to everybody."
The addition of the Vandenberg, six miles south of Key West in about 140 feet of water, will anchor the lower end of a dive environment that local dive shops are calling the Florida Keys Wreck Trek. At the top, off Key Largo, is the former Navy Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, currently the second-largest ship in the world ever to be scuttled as an artificial reef.
"It's the final piece in the wreck trek puzzle," said Bob Holston, president of the Keys Association of Dive Operators. "We'll have wrecks of every size and age from ... ancient galleons to freighters and military ships.
"The Keys have always been known as a top dive destination for its natural resources," Holston said. "Now, we've added a world-class wreck trek."
For more information on the Vandenberg, dive in to www.bigshipwrecks.com.
For more detail on the Florida Keys, travel to www.fla-keys.com.
A retired military ship that had been rusting away on a Virginia river for almost a quarter-century is to be intentionally sunk off Key West by mid-2008 to serve as a new habitat for marine life.
And to commemorate the scheduled arrival of the newest artificial reef in the region, the Florida Keys & Key West has created a collector's lapel pin featuring Key West artist David Harrison Wright's interpretation of what the former U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg should look like after it is scuttled in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The first 500 industry professionals who register at the Keys DEMA pavilion will receive the pin and also be entered in the destination's traditional "Drive and Dive" contest that offers dive charters for two people in each Keys region, accommodations, a rental car to use for one week to travel the Florida Keys Overseas Highway and a full set of ScubaPro dive equipment.
The 523-foot Vandenberg, which tracked Mercury and Gemini spacecraft blastoffs, is being cleansed from stem to stern to remove all contaminants by personnel from Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va.
The prime attraction of the Vandenberg, according to project organizer Joe Weatherby of Reefmakers, is its huge size and diversified structure that should appeal to divers of all skill levels.
"The ship has a lot of heavy structure up high in the water column," Weatherby said. "There's going to be 10 or 11 places along the entire length of the ship where it will come up to within about 40 feet of the surface. That's a lot more area for a rookie to explore."
Weatherby also pointed out sections of the ship that would appeal to divers with advance certification to dive in deep environments beneath overhead structures.
"There are about six or eight places on the ship that have great, big wide areas that go from the decks, all the way down to the keel," he said. "We came up with the Vandenberg from a list of about 400 ships, because the Vandenberg seems to offer a little bit to everybody."
The addition of the Vandenberg, six miles south of Key West in about 140 feet of water, will anchor the lower end of a dive environment that local dive shops are calling the Florida Keys Wreck Trek. At the top, off Key Largo, is the former Navy Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, currently the second-largest ship in the world ever to be scuttled as an artificial reef.
"It's the final piece in the wreck trek puzzle," said Bob Holston, president of the Keys Association of Dive Operators. "We'll have wrecks of every size and age from ... ancient galleons to freighters and military ships.
"The Keys have always been known as a top dive destination for its natural resources," Holston said. "Now, we've added a world-class wreck trek."
For more information on the Vandenberg, dive in to www.bigshipwrecks.com.
For more detail on the Florida Keys, travel to www.fla-keys.com.
