Key West, Florida, United States

USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg

The USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg is a 159-metre former troop transport and Air Force missile-tracking ship that was sunk seven nautical miles south of Key West on 27 May 2009. Originally launched in 1943 as the General Harry Taylor, she later tracked Apollo, Mercury and Gemini missions from her array of distinctive radar dishes. Today she sits upright on a sand bottom at 43 metres with the main deck near 30 metres and the upper radar masts reaching as shallow as 12 metres, making her one of the largest intentionally sunk artificial reefs in the world. The huge structure attracts goliath grouper, large schools of horse-eye and bar jacks, great barracuda, and growing populations of sponges and stony corals on the upper decks. Currents are often strong because the wreck sits on the open Gulf Stream edge, and dives frequently turn into drift profiles. Penetration is technical-only; the interior is largely unmodified. Advanced certification, redundant air and good buoyancy are essential.