Wreckage of an American motorboat from World War I has been found off the coast of England
Off the coast of Cornwall, UK, divers have discovered the wreckage of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tampa. The vessel was lost at the end of World War I after being struck by a German submarine. The discovery was made by a team of British researchers during an underwater expedition.
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard announced that a team of divers from British Gasperados Dive discovered the wreckage of the Tampa last weekend at a depth of 91 meters, approximately 80 kilometers off the coast of Cornwall.
British Gasperados Dive is a team of technical diving volunteers that has been collaborating with historians and researchers to search for sunken ships throughout the United Kingdom.
The team of divers had been searching for the wreck of the American patrol boat Tampa since 2023.
“This discovery is the result of three years of research and searching. The Tampa is of immense significance to the United States and to the families of all those who perished that day. Finally, the location of their final resting place has been revealed,” wrote Steve Mortimer, the team leader, in a Facebook post.
British Gasperados Dive noted in another Facebook post that the Tampa was discovered “during the tenth dive expedition to potential targets.”
The Coast Guard reported that it provided the British Gasperados Dive team with records and data—archival photographs of deck fittings, the steering wheel, the ship’s bell, armaments, and images of the boat itself—confirming that this is indeed the Tampa. They also added that they are developing plans for further exploration of the sunken vessel using autonomous systems and robotics.
The Tampa began service as part of a convoy in the Atlantic Ocean on September 17, 1918. However, on September 26, the ship’s captain requested permission to leave the convoy he was escorting, as the ship was running out of coal for the boilers and needed to restock fuel.
Command granted the captain’s request, and at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time, the ship headed at full speed toward a port in Wales.
Around 8:15 p.m., a patrol boat spotted the German submarine UB-41, which fired a single torpedo. According to the Coast Guard, the torpedo explosion was followed by a secondary explosion caused either by the ignition of coal dust or the detonation of depth charges aboard the Tampa.
An aircraft dispatched to search for the vessel when it failed to arrive at its destination found its wreckage the following day.
On board the Tampa were 111 Coast Guard personnel, 4 U.S. Navy sailors, and 16 British nationals, including Royal Navy personnel and civilians.
This was the largest naval loss suffered by the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I.
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