More than a century after it vanished beneath the waves, the wreck of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tampa has been found, the service announced on April 30. The discovery, made by a volunteer British dive team after three years of searching, pinpoints the final resting place of 131 men lost in one of the deadliest attacks on an American naval vessel during World War I.
The Tampa was on patrol in the Bristol Channel on Sept. 26, 1918, when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. The vessel sank in less than three minutes. All 131 people aboard died — 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy personnel, and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians. For decades, the location of the wreck remained unknown.
The Gasperados Dive Team, based in the United Kingdom, located the wreck about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Newquay, Cornwall, at a depth of more than 300 feet (90 meters). Team leader Steve Mortimer said in a Facebook post that the find was the result of three years of research and exploration, and that the ship is of “huge importance” to the United States and to the families of those who died. “Their final resting place is known at last,” Mortimer said.
The all-volunteer team first contacted the Coast Guard Historian’s Office in 2023. The office provided historical records and archival images — including deck fittings, the ship’s wheel, bell and weaponry — to help confirm the wreck site. “We provided the dive team with historical records and technical data to assist in confirming the wreck site,” Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian William Thiesen said.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday linked the discovery to the service’s enduring legacy. “When the Tampa was lost with all hands in 1918, it left an enduring grief in our service,” Lunday said. “Locating the wreck connects us to their sacrifice and reminds us that devotion to duty endures.”
The Coast Guard said it is now developing plans for underwater research and exploration of the site. The Tampa’s loss remains the largest single American naval combat loss of life in World War I, and the discovery offers a measure of closure to descendants and to the service itself.