One group wants to go down with the ship. Another wants to attach an automatic cleaner to the hull, hoping to convince the Navy to buy its product. A third simply wants to scuba dive in a room full of beer.

True to form, Conch Republicans this week have been making bizarre requests to organizers responsible for sinking the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg six miles off Key West to create an artificial reef.

"I've been here 60 years and the screwballs are coming out of the woodwork," said Bill Verge, a Coast Guard retiree and Key West city commissioner who is the project liaison.

On Friday, Verge was aboard the USS Mohawk with longtime Vandenberg organizer Joe Weatherby as crews continued their work readying the 522-foot mothballed vessel for sinking sometime between May 20 and June 1. Foot traffic on the East Quay Wall at the Truman Waterfront, where both ships are moored, was heavy as tourists and locals alike continued to line the fence, taking pictures of the rusty behemoth.

"We're getting all kinds of requests from all over the place," Weatherby said. "You name it. Some Germans wanted to put their boat on the super-structure when it goes down, with them in it."

For what reason, Weatherby doesn't know. He denied the request and moved on, he said.

The strongest reaction, however, came from the scuba diver who wanted to fill a sealed room with beer.

"I don't know what people are thinking," Weatherby said.

A company that makes small, unmanned vessels also contacted Weatherby about its robotic hull-cleaning device. The company wanted to use it on the Vandenberg for promotional reasons, Verge said.

The company initially contacted Verge about using it on the USS Mohawk, but Verge declined so representatives contacted Weatherby about the Vandenberg.

"I'm getting so many crazy requests," Weatherby said. "We haven't even seen the paperwork on that one yet. That's going to be up to the city."

Organizers also have been inundated with media requests. National Geographic is in town as well as the Discovery Channel and more are expected, Verge said.

Most of the requests are from people who want to put their own remote cameras on the Vandenberg, and divers who want to be in the water when it's sunk, Weatherby said. Many are clamoring to be the first to dive on the site. Others want to bring in helicopters, Weatherby said.

Fritz Zivic, a volunteer on the Mohawk, said foot traffic has been heavy all week. As he talked, passersby continually filed by the ship, taking pictures and asking about the Vandenberg -- a mammoth project that has taken $8 million and more than a decade to realize.

"A hell of a week?" Verge said, repeating a reporter's question. "Try a hell of the last 10 years."

alinhardt@keysnews.com