New episode traces the 108-year mystery of America’s one of the Coast Guard deadliest disasters — and the three-year search that finally located the wreck off Cornwall.
The Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs podcast, part of the Into History podcast channel, has released a new episode exploring the loss and recent discovery of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Tampa, the nation’s single largest naval combat loss of World War I.
The episode, “The Sinking and Discovery of the USCGC Tampa,” recounts the cutter’s origins as the Revenue Cutter Miami in 1912, her service on the International Ice Patrol, and her wartime convoy-escort missions through U-boat-infested waters. It reconstructs the night she was lost and the painstaking three-year search that finally solved one of the Coast Guard’s oldest mysteries.
The Loss
On September 26, 1918, just released from duties following the successful escort of a convoy through submarine filled waters, Tampa was steaming alone in the Bristol Channel toward Milford Haven, Wales, to recoal. Running low on fuel and with her lights doused, she was spotted by the German submarine UB-91. A single torpedo struck her amidships; the cutter sank in under three minutes, killing all 131 sailors and personnel aboard — 111 Coast Guardsmen, 4 U.S. Navy sailors, and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians. It remains the largest single loss of life on any U.S. combat vessel during the First World War and one of the deadliest day in U.S. Coast Guard history.
The Discovery
For more than a century, Tampa’s final resting place stayed a mystery. That changed in April 2026, when the all-volunteer British technical diving team Gasperados, working alongside Coast Guard historians, located wreckage believed to be the cutter roughly 50 miles off Newquay, Cornwall, at a depth of more than 300 feet. The team notified the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, and the Coast Guard announced the find on April 29, 2026.
This Episode
Listen as Dr. Bill Thiessen, historian for the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, tells us the history of the Tampa, from commissioning as the USCGC Miami, her recommissioning as the Tampa and ties to the city of Tampa, Florida, to her work on derelict patrol and hunting the location of icebergs as the Coast Guard took on a new responsibility following the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Then, Dom Robinson, of the Gasperados Dive Team (YouTube: @DeepWreckDiver), talks about how the Gasperados Dive Team became involved in the search, how Steve and Barbara Mortimer helped focus the search area, and the challenges of this technical dive.
As CDR Gary M. Thomas, USCG (Ret.), Coast Guard historian and consultant, notes, “To have this wreck found after more than a century brings a measure of closure to the families and to the service,” said CDR Thomas. “It also reminds us why we preserve these stories — so that the 131 men lost aboard Tampa are never forgotten.”
Availability
The episode, written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano with original theme music by Sean Sigfried, is now available on the Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs website and across major podcast platforms.
Listen to the episode: https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/124
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About Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs
Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs brings to life the stories of ships lost to the sea and the people who sailed them. The series is part of the Into History podcast channel. Learn more at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
About the Foundation for Coast Guard History (FCGH)
Join our crew and begin to help our efforts to preserving and sharing the legacy of the U.S. Coast Guard. You can find out how here: www.fcgh.org
The Foundation for Coast Guard History is a nonprofit organization that promotes the recognition and prestige of the United States Coast Guard by emphasizing its illustrious past and contributions to the nation.
Our mission is to preserve and share the legacy of the U.S. Coast Guard by creating educational opportunities, supporting archival and museum efforts, and promoting public engagement with Coast Guard history. Through contests, grants, scholarships, and internships, we advance historical research, foster creative works, and restore historic properties in partnership with the Coast Guard’s Office of Heritage and the Historian’s Office.
By collaborating with the Coast Guard and National Coast Guard Museum Association, we ensure the rich history of the Coast Guard is accessible and celebrated for generations to come.