View source for USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg

{{short description|US Navy transport ship sunk as artificial reef at Key West}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10).png
|Ship caption='''USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10)''' underway. She was originally '''USS ''General Harry Taylor'' (AP-145)'''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1983}}
|Ship name=* ''General Harry Taylor'' (1943-1963)
* ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (1963-
|Ship namesake=*[[Harry Taylor (engineer)|Harry Taylor]]
*[[Hoyt Vandenberg]]
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Mamie M. McHugh
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=*[[Kaiser Shipyards|Kaiser Co., Inc.]]
*[[Richmond, California]]
|Ship laid down=22 February 1943
|Ship launched=10 October 1943
|Ship christened=2 October 1943
|Ship acquired=29 March 1944
|Ship commissioned=1 April 1944 (ferry)
|Ship decommissioned=10 April 1944 (ferry)
|Ship identification=*Code letters and radio callsign NJHB<ref name=navsrc150>{{cite web | first = Gary P. | last = Priolo | url = http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22145.htm | title = USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USAT General Harry Taylor, USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145), USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) | work = NavSource Online | publisher = NavSource Naval History | date = 29 June 2007 | access-date = 2007-11-20 }}</ref>
*[[Image:ICS November.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Juliet.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Hotel.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Bravo.svg|15px|border]]
*{{IMO Number|8450653}}
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship commissioned=8 May 1944
|Ship decommissioned=13 June 1946
|Ship struck=3 July 1946
|Ship fate=To [[U.S. Army Transport Service]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship renamed=USAT ''General Harry Taylor''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=U.S. Army Transport Service
|Ship in service=after 3 July 1946
|Ship out of service=1 March 1950
|Ship fate=To [[Military Sea Transportation Service|MSTS]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship renamed=USNS ''General Harry Taylor''
|Ship reclassified=T-AP-145, 1 March 1950
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=MSTS
|Ship in service=1 March 1950
|Ship out of service=19 September 1958
|Ship struck=10 July 1958
|Ship fate=To [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=[[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]
|Ship acquired=15 July 1961
|Ship renamed=USAFS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship namesake=[[Hoyt Vandenberg|Hoyt S. Vandenberg]]
|Ship in service=1 June 1963
|Ship out of service=1 July 1964
|Ship fate=To [[Military Sea Transportation Service|MSTS]]
|Ship identification=*Code letters and radio callsign NBBP<ref name=navsrc150 />
*[[Image:ICS November.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Bravo.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Bravo.svg|15px|border]] [[Image:ICS Papa.svg|15px|border]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship renamed=USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg''
|Ship reclassified=T-AGM-10, 1 July 1964
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship in service=1 July 1964
|Ship out of service=1983
|Ship struck=29 April 1993
|Ship fate=NDRF James River, Movie ''[[Virus (1999 film)|Virus]]'', NDRF
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship in service=2007
|Ship out of service=2008 
|Ship fate= Sunk as an artificial reef 27 May 2009
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class={{sclass|General G. O. Squier|transport ship}}
|Ship displacement=9,950 tons (light), 17,250 tons (full)
|Ship length={{convert|522|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|71|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|24|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=single-[[Propeller (marine)|screw]] [[steam turbine]] with {{convert|9900|shp|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|17|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity=3,224 troops
|Ship complement=356 (officers and enlisted)
|Ship armament=*As built:
*{{unbulleted list
| 4 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|5"/38 caliber]] guns
| 8 × [[1.1"/75 caliber gun|1.1"/75]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|AA]] guns
| 16 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20&nbsp;mm Oerlikon]] AA guns
}}
}}
|}
'''USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10)''' (originally named '''USS ''General Harry Taylor'' (AP-145)''') was a {{sclass|General G. O. Squier|transport ship}} in the [[United States Navy]] in [[World War II]] named in honor of [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Chief of Engineers]] [[Harry Taylor (engineer)|Harry Taylor]]. She served for a time as army transport '''[[United States Army Transport|USAT]] ''General Harry Taylor''''', and was reacquired by the navy in 1950 as '''[[United States Naval Ship|USNS]] ''General Harry Taylor'' (T-AP-145)'''.

Placed in reserve in 1958, she was transferred to the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] in 1961 and renamed '''USAFS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg''''' in 1963 in honor of the [[Hoyt Vandenberg|former Air Force Chief of Staff]]. She was reacquired by the U.S. Navy in 1964 as '''USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10)'''.

Retired in 1983,<ref name=USAToday>{{cite news | url = https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-10-23-ship-artificial-reef_N.htm | title = Retired Air Force ship preps for reef duty in the Keys | work = [[USA Today]] | date = 23 October 2007 | access-date = 2007-11-02 }}</ref> and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] in 1993, she was to be sunk as an [[artificial reef]] originally intended for the spring of 2008,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wrecksite.eu/details.aspx?14823 | title = General Hoyt Vandenberg USAFS | publisher = wrecksite.eu | date = 7 October 2007 | access-date = 2007-11-02 }}</ref> but instead was placed under Federal Lien to be auctioned off for payment recovery in December 2008 at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] Federal Court. A group of banks and financiers from Key West bought the vessel off the auction block and it was docked at the East Quay Pier of Key West Harbor. The ship was sunk 27 May 2009 and is the second-largest artificial reef in the world, after the aircraft carrier {{USS|Oriskany|CV-34|6}}.<ref>{{cite web |author=staff writer |title=Vandenberg off central Florida, heading to Key West |publisher=The Monroe County Tourist Development Council |url=http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=7395 |access-date=2009-04-18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30928775|title=Ship to Become 2nd Largest Intentional Reef |date=25 May 2009|publisher=NBC|access-date=2017-04-09}}</ref>

==Operational history==

===Transport ship===
The unnamed [[Type C4 class ship|C4-S-A1-design]] transport was laid down under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract (MC Hull No. 702) on 22 February 1943 at [[Richmond, California|Richmond]], California, by [[Kaiser Shipyards|Kaiser Co., Inc.]], Yard 3; named ''General Harry Taylor'' (AP-145) on 2 October 1943; launched on 10 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Mamie M. McHugh; acquired by the Navy on 29 March 1944; placed in ferry commission on 1 April 1944 for transfer to [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon, for conversion to a transport by Kaiser Co., Inc., [[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]], Washington; decommissioned on 10 April 1944; and commissioned on 8 May 1944 at Portland.

Following shakedown off [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], ''General Harry Taylor'' sailed from [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] on 23 June 1944 with troop reinforcements for [[Milne Bay]], New Guinea. After returning to San Francisco on 3 August with veterans of the [[Guadalcanal campaign]] embarked, she continued transport voyages between San Francisco and island bases in the western Pacific. During the next 10 months, she steamed to New Guinea, the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]], [[New Caledonia]], the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]], the [[New Hebrides]], the [[Palaus]], and the [[Philippines]], carrying troops and supplies, until 29 June 1945 when she departed San Francisco for duty in the Atlantic.

With the European war over, ''General Harry Taylor'' made two "[[Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)|Magic Carpet]]" voyages to [[Marseille]]s and back, carrying returning veterans of the fighting in that theater. Next she sailed twice to [[Karachi]], India, via the [[Suez Canal]]. Returning to [[New York City|New York]] on 3 January 1946, the transport then began the first of four voyages to [[Bremerhaven]], Germany, and [[Le Havre]], France. She reached New York again on 21 May 1946 and decommissioned on 13 June at [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]]. She was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy Register]] on 3 July 1946.

''General Harry Taylor'' served for a time with the U.S. [[Army Transport Service]], but was reacquired by the Navy on 1 March 1950 for use by the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] (MSTS). She was reinstated on the Navy List on 28 April 1950. Her early duties consisted mainly of carrying troops, dependents, and large numbers of European refugees. USNS ''General Harry Taylor'' (T-AP-145) operated in a typical year to the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]], [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], and in northern European waters. In 1957, she took part in the Hungarian Relief program, transporting several thousand refugees of the short-lived [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian Revolution]] to [[Australia]]. She was placed in ready reserve on 19 September 1957; stricken from the Naval Register on 10 July 1958 and transferred back to the Maritime Administration the same day. She was placed in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] at [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]], Texas.

===Missile range instrumentation ship===
''General Harry Taylor'' was then transferred to the U.S. Air Force, on 15 July 1961, and was renamed USAFS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' on 11 June 1963.

On 1 July 1964, ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' was acquired by the Navy and designated T-AGM-10, as a [[missile range instrumentation ship]], one of ten such ships transferred from the Commander, Air Force Eastern Test Range, to MSTS. in 1974 the ship commanded by Captain Anderson deployed to Dakar, Senegal, to participate in the Global Atmospheric Research Experiment. "Equipped with extremely accurate and discriminating radar and telemetry equipment," she tracked and analyzed "re-entry bodies in the terminal phase of ballistic missile test flights," carrying out those missile and spacecraft tracking duties in both Atlantic and Pacific waters until her retirement in 1983.<ref name=USAToday /> She was ultimately stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 29 April 1993.

[[Image:Vandenberg-2009.jpg|thumb|left|''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' at Key West docks in May 2009]]
[[Image:Vandenberg.jpg|thumb|left|''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' at Key West docks in May 2009]]

In 1998, some scenes of the [[horror film|horror]]/[[science fiction|sci-fi]] film ''[[Virus (1999 film)|Virus]]'' were filmed aboard the ex-''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg''. The ship substituted for a fictional [[Russia]]n vessel called the ''Akademik [[Vladislav Volkov]]'', and some of the [[Cyrillic]] lettering applied for the film is still visible on the hull today.<ref name=navsrc150 />

The ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 1 May 1999. Her projected transfer to the [[Florida|state of Florida]], for use as an [[artificial reef]], received approval on 13 February 2007. The ship was sunk 6 miles (10&nbsp;km) off the [[Florida Keys]] in the [[Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary]]. The sinking was originally set to take place on 15 May 2008 but was postponed because the ship was placed under "Federal Arrest" by a US Federal Court for failure to pay shipyard fees related to the clean-up and preparation for the sinking. She was later ordered to be sold at auction to pay the shipyard fees. A group of banks and financiers from Key West was able to arrange to pay the fees and title of the ship was transferred to the city of Key West.

On 12 April 2009, the ''Vandenberg'' left the shipyard in Norfolk, VA and began the long tow to Key West.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.smithmaritime.us/news-vandenberg.php | title=Smith Maritime :: Ocean Towing & Salvage Services }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8071132.stm|title=US warship becomes Florida reef |date=27 May 2009|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2009-05-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Sink the Vandenberg! |publisher=[[Stevens Institute of Technology]], Office of University Communications |date=24 June 2009 |url=http://www.stevens.edu/press/cgi-bin/wordpress/?p=579 |access-date=2009-07-21 }}</ref>

===Artificial Reef===
[[File:Diver at USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) wreck off Key West in January 2015.JPG|thumb|left|USNS ''Vandenberg'' in 2015.]]
The ''Vandenberg'' was deployed by Key West{{En dash}}based economic development company Reefmakers. Beginning in 1996, Reefmakers set out to create an artificial reef that benefited the local economy and ecosystem of whichever city it was set to be deployed in.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.reefmakers.com/projects.html|title=REEFMAKERS - Artificial Reef Development and Construction}}</ref> From the pre- to post-
USNS ''Vandenberg'' deployment period, there was a 40.1% increase in the total number of users (scuba divers, snorkelers, and others) on the surrounding natural reefs. A 23.5% increase in recreational scuba diving use occurred on the natural reefs representing 5,214 dives, which is in contrast to a 442% increase (34,394 dives) in the share of recreational scuba diving that occurred on artificial reefs. However, the share of total use on natural reefs did decline from 67% in the pre-deployment period to 46.5% in the post-deployment period. However, the increase in total demand effect dominated the substitution effect of switching from natural to artificial reefs resulting in an increase in total use on the surrounding natural reefs. Thus, the hypothesis that introduction of the USNS ''Vandenberg''
as an artificial reef would reduce use (pressure) on the surrounding natural reefs is not supported in a study made by the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].<ref>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: ''The Economic Impact of the USS Vandenberg on the Monroe County Economy'', July 2011. [http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/floridakeys/pdfs/vandenbergreport.pdf]/[http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/floridakeys/pdfs/vandfseconImpact.pdf], and [http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe649 University of Florida: ''The Economic Benefits Associated with Florida's Artificial Reefs'']</ref>

==Awards==
*[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[Navy Occupation Medal]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]] with star

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Tracking ship|aka=Missile Range Instrumentation Ship}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g3/general_harry_taylor.htm}} A second entry can be found [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g3/general_hoyt_s_vandenberg.htm here].
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.120051,-76.644949&spn=0.002481,0.005021&t=k&z=18&om=1 Satellite image] of USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' in the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] as part of the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] (Far right in image). <!--accurate as of 2 November 2007 -->
* [http://ussvandenberg.com/ USS Vandenberg] —Web site with current information on the USS Vandenberg, including videos of the sinking, deck plans, charter, diving and dive safety information.

{{General G. O. Squier class transport ship}}
{{Missile range instrumentation ship (T-AGM)}}
{{Kaiser, Permanente Metals, Richmond Shipyards}}
{{2009 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{coord|24|27|N|81|44|W|source:kolossus-ruwiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Harry Taylor (AP-145)}}
[[Category:General G. O. Squier-class transports|Harry Taylor]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Transport ships of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Ships of the United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Ships built in Richmond, California]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as artificial reefs]]
[[Category:Research vessels of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Beaumont Reserve Fleet]]
[[Category:James River Reserve Fleet]]