The 190-foot, 1,200-ton Miami-class auxiliary gunboat/steel-hulled “cruising cutter” Tampa (WGC-11) was built to spec at Newport News and commissioned on 19 August 1912.
Constructed at $250,000 for the Revenue Cutter Service, she was a simple coastwise vessel, armed with a trio of 6-pounders in peacetime, with weight and space reserved to upgrade those to 3-inchers during war.
USCGC Tampa photographed in harbor, before World War I. Note her two visible whalers. Completed in 1912 as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Miami, she was renamed Tampa in February 1916. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 1226
She spent her first few years stationed in southern Florida (go figure), under her original name (Miami), service she alternated with heading to the North for the International Ice Patrol every spring– remember these were the years just after the loss of the Titanic.
Crew photo of the Revenue Service Cutter Miami (future USCGC Tampa) while on Ice Patrol, circa 1912-16. Note one of her 6-pounder guns to the right of the photo
Revenue Cutter Miami, the future USCGC Tampa, USCG 190326-G-G0000-1001
Then came war, and Tampa was quickly modified for overseas service with five other large cutters.
As detailed by the CG Historian’s Office:
On 1 February 1916, three days before the Gasparilla Carnival and South Florida Fair in Tampa, her name was changed to Tampa. Again that year, she made the ice patrol and then returned to Key West. The year 1917 was very eventful for the crew of Tampa. The South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival at Tampa was the greatest yet, lasting nine days, from 2 February through the 10th. With four days to recuperate from this gala affair, they went on to patrol the Annual Motor Boat Regatta at Miami from 15 to 17 February 1916. On 27 and 28 March, they patrolled the races of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, Florida.
There was a shadow over the spring gaiety of 1917, however. On 2 February 1917, the opening day of the Fair and Carnival in Tampa, was the day the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. Perhaps the men of Tampa sensed that this would be their last celebration with the citizens of their favorite city. On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, and immediately, Tampa and other Coast Guard cutters were transferred to the Navy. During the next four months, she received heavier armament by trading her three six-pounders for four 3-inch guns and a pair of machine guns. After preparations at the Boston Navy Yard, Tampa moved to the New York Navy Yard on 16 September and reported for duty to the commanding officer of USS Paducah (Gunboat No. 18). Ordered to duty overseas, the warship departed New York on 29 September in company with Paducah, Sterling, B.H.B. Hubbard (SP-416), and five French-manned, American-made submarine chasers in tow. After stops at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Tampa and her sailing mates reached Gibraltar on 27 October 1917.
Based in Gibraltar, the Tampa, Seneca (her companion ship during the ice patrols), Yamacraw, Ossipee, Algonquin, and Manning made up Squadron 2 of Division 6 of the Atlantic Fleet Patrol Forces. Their mission was to protect convoys from submarine attacks. In the little more than a year left to her, Tampa escorted 18 convoys, comprising a total of 350 vessels, through the U-boat-infested waters from Gibraltar to Britain. Her record during this period was outstanding. She was never disabled, and her one request for repairs had been on two minor items, in spite of spending more than fifty percent of her time at sea and steaming an average of 3,566 miles a month.
A haze grey USCGC Tampa moored in a European port (possibly Gibraltar), circa 1917-1918. Note the paddle tug astern of Tampa and the large converted yacht in the distance. The latter may be a British Navy vessel. Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 106706
She was sunk while escorting a convoy on 26 September 1918– just seven weeks before the Armistice– in the Bristol Channel off the coast of Wales by German UB III-class submarine UB-91 (Kptlt. Wolf Hans Hertwig).
As detailed by DANFS:
Tampa, in company with her fellow escorts, departed Gibraltar with the 32-ship convoy HG 107, bound for Liverpool, on 17 September 1918. The convoy proceeded without incident beyond Cornwall and into the Irish Sea. During the late afternoon of 26 September, Tampa parted company with the convoy as she was in need of refueling. Ordered to put into Milford Haven, she proceeded independently toward her destination. At 7:30 p.m., as she steamed toward the Bristol Channel, UB-91 (Kapitänleutnant Wolf Hans Hertwig) spotted the ocean escort and, according to the U-boat’s war diary entry, dived and maneuvered into an attack position. From a range of about 550 meters, UB-91 fired one G6AV torpedo with a special attachment from her stern torpedo tube at 8:15 p.m. Minutes later, the warhead detonated on Tampa’s port side amidships, throwing up a huge, luminous column of water. Two minutes later, the U-boat was shocked by a second detonation, most likely caused by Tampa’s depth charges reaching pressure fuse depth, as the cutter sank.
All 131 souls aboard— 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy signalmen, a captain of the British Army, 10 seamen of the Royal Navy, and five British dock workers– were killed, representing the largest single loss of life for the Coast Guard during the conflict and, except the disappearance of the collier USS Cyclops, was the largest loss of life suffered by U.S. Naval forces in any incident of the First World War.
Painting of the sinking of Cutter Tampa by the German submarine UB-91, painted by noted marine artist John Wisinski. Photo by: USCG Historian’s Office, VIRIN: 220818-G-G0000-1001
Admiral William S. Sims, the senior U.S. naval officer on duty in Great Britain, received the following letter from the Lords of the British Admiralty:
“Their Lordships desire me to express their deep regret at the loss of the USS Tampa. Her record since she has been employed in European waters as an ocean escort to convoys has been remarkable. She has acted in the capacity of ocean escort to no less than 18 convoys from Gibraltar, comprising 350 vessels, with a loss of only two ships through enemy action. The commanders of the convoys have recognized the ability with which the Tampa carried out the duties of ocean escort. Appreciation of the good work done by the USS Tampa may be some consolation to those bereft, and Their Lordships would be glad if this could be conveyed to those concerned.”
Two bodies in U.S. naval uniforms later washed ashore, one of which was identified by a waterlogged pocket tag as being Seaman James Marconnier Fleury, USCG. They were both buried with full military honors at Lamphey Churchyard (a small country churchyard in Wales). Fleury’s family later brought home his body and buried him in a cemetery in Long Island, New York, but the unidentified Coast Guardsman still rests in Lamphey Churchyard. Local citizens care for his grave to this day.
Unknown Tampa Crewman, Lamphey Churchyard, Wales, United Kingdom, ca. 2014 “In loving memory of our unknown shipmate from the USS Coast Guard Cutter Tampa torpedoed in the Bristol Channel September 26th, 1918. Erected by the USS Tampa Coast Guard Post 719 American Legion, New York. USCG 170602-G-XX000-152
The UB-91 was surrendered at Harwich on 21 November 1918. Operated by a British crew, she toured several cities, including Cardiff and Newport, where she was displayed from 12–20 January 1919 and visited by local officials to raise funds for mariners’ charities. After the boat’s breakup at Briton Ferry in 1921, her deck gun was moved to Chepstow’s war memorial. Her only wartime skipper, Hertwig, credited with 14,668 tons of shipping (Tampa and three steamers) returned to Germany on board the transport Lucia Woerman and resigned from the Imperial Navy in 1920. He later joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937 at age 52 and held a series of training and desk jobs. KzS Hertwig was taken prisoner by the British during the liberation of Denmark in May 1945 and held in a PoW camp till the end of 1946. He passed in 1958, of cancer.
Until now, the only tangible part of Tampa that has ever been located was a brass boat plate from one of her whalers, found on 14 April 1924, almost six years after she was lost, discovered by a 14-year-old lad while beachcombing at Rest Bay, Porthcawl, England.
Tampa boat plate NH 41869
Now it seems, as reported by the Gasperados Dive Team, that the final resting place of Tampa is in 320 feet of water, some 50 miles off Newquay, England.
As detailed by the USCG Historian’s Office:
“Since 1790, the Coast Guard has defended our nation during every armed conflict in American history, a legacy reflected in the courage and sacrifice of the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Tampa,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “When the Tampa was lost with all hands in 1918, it left an enduring grief in our service. Locating the wreck connects us to their sacrifice and reminds us that devotion to duty endures. We will always remember them. We are proud to carry their spirit forward in defense of the United States.”
In 2023, the Coast Guard Historians Office was contacted by the Gasperados Dive Team regarding the 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 the Tampa.”
The Coast Guard is now developing plans for underwater research and exploration in coordination with its offices of specialized capabilities, historians, cutter forces, robotics and autonomous systems, and dive locker.
And so we remember.
In Waters Deep– Eileen Mahoney
In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row,
There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…
The spirited, the good, the brave,
But stars a constant vigil keep,
For them who lie beneath the deep.
‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”
But you can to the ocean go…
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride…
In and out… with every tide.
And when your span of life is passed,
He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who’ll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row.
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived… they chose the sea.
