The Vandenberg Wreck Dive Key West, FL
USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg belonged to the US Navy during WWII and was later transferred to the US Air Force. She was used as a transport ship during WWII and her satellite disk was used to track missiles during the Cold War. She was decommissioned in the 80's and sunk off of Key West, FL in 2009 to become the worlds second largest artificial reef. She now sits in 120' of water about 7 miles SW off the coast of KW in the Atlantic Ocean. These are highlights of my second dive on this ship. I am a certified PADI Rescue Diver and my dive partner is a former Rescue Diver for the US Navy, both of us have 20 years experience diving. My good friend, dive partner and videographer is Charles Meier. This is an *Advanced and technical dive and NOT for beginner divers. It is however, an excellent dive!! It can be dangerous due to the deep water it sits in, and often times, very strong ocean currents. Weather and water conditions in the open ocean can also change quickly. The treacherous nature of this dive has unfortunately led to the deaths of a few divers so, I advise going with a local guide and dive shop. My partner and I dove this wreck from his boat and alone, so were the only two divers on the wreck in this video. Conditions were not the best, visibility was fair and the current was very strong on this day. The murky water does however, lend to the mystery, ambience and spookiness of this dive!!Charles has a Charter Boat in Key West if you would like to get out on the water while you are there (he does not do dive trips) please visit damntherockscharters.com
The Vandenberg Finally Sinks Off Key West
A 13-year project to create a new artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary finally ended May 27, 2009, with the intentional sinking of the former missile-tracking ship the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The ship is resting on the bottom of the ocean, in 140 feet of water, about seven miles off of Key West. It only took one minute and 54 seconds for the ship to sink.
Vandenberg Wreck Dive in Key West
Ocean Floor by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
Artist:
My cousin Herman guest stars in this video, scuba diving the famous Vandenberg wreck site off the coast of Key West with Lost Reef Adventures.
The USS Vandenberg was a transport ship in the United States Navy during WWII. It was intentionally scuttled as an artificial reef in 2009, seven miles off the coast of Key West. The Vandenberg measures 10 stories high in the water column, the keel the deepest, at 140 feet deep.
It is at the top of the structure that most of the ship's interesting attributes are located, some purposely cut from one part of the ship and welded elsewhere to make attention-getting dive spots from bow to stern, all trimmed to reach within 40 to 50 feet of the surface.
Some of the Vandenberg locals include barracudas, arrow crabs, Goliath groupers, moray eels, and much more. Diving at artificial reefs helps ease some of the tourism stress on the delicate natural reefs of the ecosystem.
The USS Vandenberg has become one of the best artificial reef dive sites for recreational divers worldwide. Warm water almost year-round, tropical conditions, and the vacation/resort atmosphere of Key West combine to make the Vandenberg a most desirable destination for ecotourism.
The ship was used originally as a U.S. Navy troop transport named the Gen. Harry Taylor. It was renamed the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 1963, and tracked the U.S. space program’s launches off Cape Canaveral. It also served in the Pacific monitoring U.S. defense missile test launches and eavesdropped on Russian missile launches during the Cold War. Port Canaveral, Fla., was the Vandenberg’s last active duty homeport beginning in 1976.
The Vandenberg was retired in 1983 and 10 years later was formally struck from the naval register and transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The ship received its most public exposure when cast as a Russian science ship in “Virus,” a 1999 motion picture starring Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland.
The Vandenberg represents the southernmost part of the Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail, a series of intentionally sunken vessels that begins off Key Largo with the former Navy landing ship dock Spiegel Grove.
Sinking the Vandenberg - Full Episode
In the turquoise blue waters of the Florida Keys, a new attraction is drawing scuba divers from around the world: The USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The Vandenberg is the world’s second largest intentionally sunk shipwreck.
Prior to being sunk, this mighty ship transported troops to the battlefields of World War II, carried European refugees to distant shores, and later helped win the Cold War. Left abandoned for years as part of a ghost fleet, the Vandenberg has at last found her final resting place – seven miles off Key West, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
In her last mission as an artificial reef, this massive ship is already attracting a variety of fish and other marine life. Now, natural resources managers are trying to determine what impact this artificial reef has on fish populations and the health of the surrounding natural reefs.
Learn more at changingseas.tv or facebook.com/changingseas
Wreck Dive on USNS Vandenberg Key West, Florida
Diving 100ft deep on the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg wreck with South Point Divers of Key West, Florida.
Filmed on GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition & GoPro 4
My Channel :
On May 27, 2009, after more than a decade of planning and funding totaling $8.6 million, the ex-military missile-tracking ship, the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg that once tracked space launches off Cape Canaveral, Fla., and monitored Soviet missile launches during the Cold War, was added to a list of military vessels purposely sunk off the Florida Keys to become artificial reefs, thus preserving a bit of U.S. history.
Music:
Stellardrone - Comet Halley
Stellerdrone - Light Years
Vandenberg Wreck Scuba Dive, Captain's Corner, Key West, Florida, April 6, 2016
Vandenberg Wreck Scuba Dive, Captain's Corner, Key West, Florida, April 6, 2016
U.S.S Vandenberg Wreck Dive (Key West, FL.)
Went to Key West from California specifically to do this dive. Now that its all said and done, I can honestly say, it was well worth it. This was an amazing dive and the trip was one to remember. Perfect weather, perfect temperatures, clear visibility when we dove (definitely got lucky as winds were high and visibility was poor before our arrival from what i hear). If you've never been to Key West, highly recommended. This dive is relatively new (as of 2009) and is a must if you go to the island.Anyways, I filmed this dive with the GoPro HD Hero. Shot in 720P/60fps.
Vandenberg Wreck Dive - Key West Florida
this was an AMAZING dive!! this wrek is huggeee and it takes a several dives to explore the whole wreck.
filmed with GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition
Diving the USS Vandenberg in Key West Florida - 4K
Diving the USS Vandenberg near Key West Florida on June 25th, 2019.
Scuba Diving Vandenberg Wreck, Florida
Scuba Diving USNS General Hoyt S Vandenberg Wreck
Key West, Florida, USA
December 2015
with Captains Corner
USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) (originally named USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145)) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship in the United States Navy in World War II named in honor of U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Harry Taylor. She served for a time as army transport USAT General Harry Taylor, and was reacquired by the navy in 1950 as USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145).
The ship was sunk 6 miles (10 km) off the Florida Keys in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
On 12 April 2009, the Vandenberg left the shipyard and began the long tow to Key West. On 22 April 2009 she arrived in the Key West Harbor where she was moored at the East Quay Pier. The sinking took place on Wednesday, 27 May 2009.
At 522ft long the Vandenberg is the second largest artificial reef in the world.
Vandenberg Wreck dive in Key West
The dive was arranged of Southpoint Divers
USS Vandenberg Wreck Dive, Key West FL, USA
USNS Vandenberg
Wreck of USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10)
Florida, USA, September 2012
Sinking The Vandenberg to make an Artificial Reef in Key West for Wreck Diving
Aerial, on-board and underwater video of the sinking of the 2nd largest artificial reef just off the coast of Key West. This 13-year project to create a new artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary finally ended May 27, 2009, with the intentional sinking of the former missile-tracking ship the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The 523-foot-long ship is situated about seven miles south of Key West. The bottom of the ships hull rests on sand at depths between 140 and 150 feet. But the ship is so massive that the superstructure extends to about 45 feet below the surface. Even though the process to acquire, fund, permit, rid the Vandenberg of potential environmental contaminants and tow her to Key West took 13 years, only a minute and fifty four seconds were needed to sink her after a demolition team ignited forty four explosives cutting charges.
Diving the USNS Vandenberg wreck off Key West, FL
Diving the Vandenberg Shipwreck - Key West Florida - Bow Interior and Exterior- 7-17-2015
Diving the Vandenberg Key West FL
Dives on the Vandenberg June 21/22 2014
Great Wreck and we have only scratched the surface of it! Check out a mashup of our dives over 2 days spent down in Key West!
Watch in HD
USS Vandenberg Wreck Dive, Florida
Footage of the USS Vandenberg (USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, T-AGM-10), Key West, Florida. For pictures and detailed information on the wreck, see a full report on:
When diving here in late October 2015 I shot some videos of the two deep dives on this awesome wreck. The guide Duane was hilarious (and good); he was singing continuously underwater through his regulator. He took us inside various parts of the wreck which was awesome. He told us to crawl the wreck like spider-man instead of the regular way which was a new experience. There is (unfortunately) hardly any coral so you can't damage anything...
The movie was shot with a simple GoPro Hero 3+ so the dark areas inside the wreck were cut out.
Snoopet 136 - Travel Takeover - Diving The Vandenberg Wreck - Key West
Got to pull out our dive gear once more on this trip and dive the surprisingly warm water in Key West. I don't know why I was so surprised, seeing as how the Keys are practically in the Caribbean, but man it was nice in there. We dove the Vandenberg wreck, which is massive, absolutely massive. Two dives and we barely saw half of it. It is definitely worth a trip back just for this dive.
After the dive back to the hotel to meet the rest of the family, and head into town for some quality touristing. We visited the southernmost point in the United States, The Key West Memorial Garden, and grabbed some key lime Pie at Mattheessen's
Key West - Vandenberg 2016
I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (