WWI Coast Guard Cutter Tampa Wreck Found Off Cornwall

On April 26, the British technical diving team known as the Gasperados located the USS Tampa wreck, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter that was sunk by a German submarine in 1918, approximately 50 miles from Cornwall, England. This tragic event resulted in the loss of all 131 crew members—comprising 111 Coast Guardsmen, 4 Navy personnel, and 16 British personnel and civilians—marking it as the most significant loss of life for the U.S. Navy during World War I. Led by Steve Mortimer, the team collaborated with historians and the Coast Guard over three years to pinpoint ten possible locations, ultimately succeeding on their final dive. Artifacts recovered include artillery shells, a brass anchor, portholes, a water-tube boiler, and a plate inscribed "Trenton, New Jersey." Coast Guard historian William Thiesen provided essential blueprints. The divers intend to return to document a fire extinguisher that may bear the name "Tampa" for definitive evidence. The site will be regarded as a war grave, with the youngest victim being 15-year-old Irving Alexander Slicklen. In 1999, the Coast Guard posthumously awarded Purple Hearts to the crew.