Jacob Mackenzie was part of the Gasperados deep wreck team, which recently found the final resting place of an American warship off north Cornwall
UKDIVING
10th time lucky
The search for USCGC Tampa
Jacob Mackenzie was part of the Gasperados deep wreck team, which recently found the final resting place of an American warship off north Cornwall
Gasperados Dive Team
USCGC Tampa, 1912-1918
“ And the plates were stamped Trenton, New Jersey …”
The spontaneous cheer was the best part of the project. We had explored some great unknown wrecks and done some fantastic dives, but the relief at the end was overwhelming.
And to think it was literally the last possible target. We had dived nine others, plus an HMS Seabed, but after this we had no more targets. Maybe the Tampa would never be found, or was smashed beyond recognition.
However, even without a nameplate, we were individually certain that this was the wreck we’ d been looking for. One hundred minutes of decompression is plenty of time to think it over, and it matched what we knew of the Tampa.
The Tampa
The Tampa, originally built in 1912 as Miami, served the US Revenue Service and later the US Coast Guard( USCG) on routine patrols, the International Ice Patrol, and revenue work. She was a fine-looking ship with a notably efficient crew.
When the USA entered the First World War in 1917, she was transferred to the US Navy and fitted with heavier guns and depth charges for wartime escort duties.
On 26 September 1918 she was escorting convoy HG107 from Gibraltar to the UK. That evening she was ordered to proceed independently and left the convoy. At 8.15pm, however, she was spotted by UB- 91. A single torpedo sent her to the bottom with her entire crew: 111 US Coast Guardsmen, four US Navy personnel, 16 Royal Navy personnel and five civilians. This was the heaviest loss on a single American warship in the whole of the First World War.
36