The wreckage of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter “Tampa,” which sank in World War I during the largest single American naval combat loss of the conflict, was recently discovered at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after more than a century.
A British technical-diving team called “Gasperados” found the historic vessel roughly 50 miles off the coast of Newquay, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, resting at a depth of more than 300 feet.
The volunteer dive team spent three years searching for the wreckage, eventually confirming its identity with the help of the Coast Guard Historians Office, which provided historical records, technical data and archival images of the ship’s wheel, bell, deck fittings and weaponry.
The Tampa was lost on Sept. 26, 1918, just weeks before the end of World War I, when it was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine UB-91 in the Bristol Channel.
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The devastating blast caused the ship to sink in under three minutes, leaving no chance for survival.
All 131 people on board were killed, including 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy personnel, and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians.
“Since 1790, the Coast Guard has defended our nation during every armed conflict in American history, a legacy reflected in the courage and sacrifice of the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Tampa,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday wrote in a statement. “When the Tampa was lost with all hands in 1918, it left an enduring grief in our service. Locating the wreck connects us to their sacrifice and reminds us that devotion to duty endures. We will always remember them. We are proud to carry their spirit forward in defense of the United States.”
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The doomed crew came from all walks of life to serve their country, according to the Coast Guard.
In 1999, 81 years after the tragic sinking, the crew members of the Tampa were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
This group included 11 Black sailors who became the first uniformed minority Coast Guardsmen to die in combat and receive the Purple Heart.
The Coast Guard is developing plans for underwater research and exploration of the Tampa site, coordinating with historians, robotics and autonomous systems and specialized dive teams.
