USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg

USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) underway. She was originally USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145)
History
United States
Name	General Harry Taylor (1943-1963) General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (1963-
Namesake	Harry Taylor Hoyt Vandenberg
Builder	Kaiser Co., Inc. Richmond, California
Laid down	22 February 1943
Launched	10 October 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. Mamie M. McHugh
Christened	2 October 1943
Acquired	29 March 1944
Commissioned	1 April 1944 (ferry)
Decommissioned	10 April 1944 (ferry)
Identification	Code letters and radio callsign NJHB[1] IMO number: 8450653
Commissioned	8 May 1944
Decommissioned	13 June 1946
Stricken	3 July 1946
Fate	To U.S. Army Transport Service
Renamed	USAT General Harry Taylor
Operator	U.S. Army Transport Service
In service	after 3 July 1946
Out of service	1 March 1950
Fate	To MSTS
Renamed	USNS General Harry Taylor
Reclassified	T-AP-145, 1 March 1950
Operator	MSTS
In service	1 March 1950
Out of service	19 September 1958
Stricken	10 July 1958
Fate	To U.S. Air Force
Operator	U.S. Air Force
Acquired	15 July 1961
Renamed	USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg
Namesake	Hoyt S. Vandenberg
In service	1 June 1963
Out of service	1 July 1964
Identification	Code letters and radio callsign NBBP[1]
Fate	To MSTS
Renamed	USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg
Reclassified	T-AGM-10, 1 July 1964
In service	1 July 1964
Out of service	1983
Stricken	29 April 1993
Fate	NDRF James River, Movie Virus, NDRF
In service	2007
Out of service	2008
Fate	Sunk as an artificial reef 27 May 2009
General characteristics
Class and type	General G. O. Squier-class transport ship
Displacement	9,950 tons (light), 17,250 tons (full)
Length	522 ft 10 in (159.36 m)
Beam	71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
Draft	24 ft (7.32 m)
Propulsion	single-screw steam turbine with 9,900 shp (7,400 kW)
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h)
Capacity	3,224 troops
Complement	356 (officers and enlisted)
Armament	As built: 4 × 5"/38 caliber guns 8 × 1.1"/75 AA guns 16 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns

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).

Placed in reserve in 1958, she was transferred to the U.S. Air Force in 1961 and renamed USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 1963 in honor of the 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,^[2] 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,^[3] but instead was placed under Federal Lien to be auctioned off for payment recovery in December 2008 at 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.^[4][5]