The wreckage of the US Coast Guard cutter Tampa has been located and confirmed by the British technical diving team Gasperados approximately 50 miles (30 kilometres) off Newquay, Cornwall, in the UK.
The wreck was found at a depth exceeding 300 feet (90 metres) in the Atlantic Ocean.
Tampa was lost in 1918 during World War I after being torpedoed by a German submarine in the Bristol Channel. The vessel sank in less than three minutes, resulting in the death of all 131 people aboard—111 coast guardsmen, four US Navy personnel, and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians.
This remains the largest single American naval combat loss of life in World War I.
In 2023, the Coast Guard Historians Office was contacted by the Gasperados Dive Team regarding Tampa. Over the past three years, the all-volunteer team conducted an extensive search for the wreckage.
“We provided the dive team with historical records and technical data to assist in confirming the wreck site,” said Dr William Thiesen, Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian. “This included the archival images of the deck fittings, ship’s wheel, bell , weaponry, and archival images of Tampa.”
The coast guard is now developing plans for underwater research and exploration in coordination with its offices of specialised capabilities, historians, cutter forces, robotics and autonomous systems, and dive locker.