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USCGC Tampa (1912)
Encyclopedia
USCGC Tampa was an Ungala-class cutter that served in the US Revenue Cutter Service, the US Coast Guard, and the US Navy. It was sunk with the highest US combat casualty loss in World War I
.
, was authorized 21 April 1910; launched on 10 February 1912; and placed in commission by the Revenue Cutter Service at its depot at Arundel Cove, Maryland
on 19 August 1912.
During the following five years, Miami performed duties typical for cutters. She served several times on the winter ice patrol
, operating out of New York
and Halifax
, Nova Scotia
, to locate iceberg
s which might be hazardous to navigation. Her first patrol began on 13 May 1913 out of Halifax, and her last ended on 11 June 1915 when she was relieved by cutter Seneca
.
On other occasions, she operated out of various stations along the eastern seaboard enforcing navigation and fishing laws. Her most frequent bases of operation during that period were Key West
and Tampa
, Florida
; Arundel Cove, Maryland; and New York City
.
were merged and named the U. S. Coast Guard. A year later, on 1 February 1916, Miami was renamed Tampa.
, Tampa moved to the New York Navy Yard
on 16 September and reported for duty to the commanding officer of Paducah. Ordered to duty overseas, the warship departed New York on 29 September in company with Paducah, Sterling, Hubbard, 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.
Her war service lasted just eleven months. During that time, she was assigned ocean escort duty protecting convoys from German submarines on the route between Gibraltar and the southern coast of England. On the average, she spent more than half of her time at sea and steamed more than 3500 nautical miles (6,482 km) per month. Between 27 October 1917 and 31 July 1918, she escorted eighteen convoys between Gibraltar and Great Britain
, losing only two ships out of all those escorted. Though she brought her 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns into action several times against suspected U-boat
positions, the only verifiable run-in with a German undersea raider proved fatal.
During the late afternoon of 26 September 1918, Tampa parted company with convoy HG-107, which she had just escorted into the Irish Sea
from Gibraltar. Ordered to put into Milford Haven
, Wales
, she proceeded independently toward her destination. At 7:30 that evening, as she transited the Bristol Channel
, the warship was spotted by UB-91. According to the submarine war diary entry, the U-boat dived and maneuvered into an attack position, firing one torpedo out of the stern tube at 8:15 from a range of about 550 meters. Minutes later, the torpedo hit Tampa and exploded portside amidships, throwing up a huge, luminous column of water. The water was shocked by a second detonation two minutes later, most likely caused by Tampa's depth charges reaching pressure fuse depth, as the cutter sank with all hands, 115 officers and men as well as 16 passengers at roughly 50° 40' N and 6° 19' W.
Alerted by the convoy flagship, whose radio operator reported having felt the shock of an underwater explosion at about 2045, search and rescue efforts over the succeeding three days turned up only some wreckage, clearly identified as coming from Tampa, and a single unidentified body. Three bodies were later recovered, two from a beach near Lamphey
, Wales, and the other at sea by a British patrol boat.
Tampa was struck from the Navy list as of the date of her sinking.
and in the chapel at the Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial
in Surrey, England . In 1999, the crewmen of the Tampa were posthumously presented with the Purple Heart
.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
US Revenue Cutter Service
Miami, a cutter built for the Revenue Cutter Service by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock CorporationNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
, was authorized 21 April 1910; launched on 10 February 1912; and placed in commission by the Revenue Cutter Service at its depot at Arundel Cove, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
on 19 August 1912.
During the following five years, Miami performed duties typical for cutters. She served several times on the winter ice patrol
International Ice Patrol
The International Ice Patrol is an organization with the purpose of monitoring the presence of icebergs in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and reporting their movements for safety purposes. It is operated by United States Coast Guard but is funded by the 13 nations interested in trans-Atlantic...
, operating out of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, to locate iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s which might be hazardous to navigation. Her first patrol began on 13 May 1913 out of Halifax, and her last ended on 11 June 1915 when she was relieved by cutter Seneca
USCGC Seneca (1908)
USCGC Seneca had an interesting and varied history. Fighting submarines in World War I, making the International Ice Patrol, capturing rum runners in the Prohibition era, saving lives from Greenland to Puerto Rico, from Gibraltar to the Gulf of Mexico, participating in colorful ceremonies and...
.
On other occasions, she operated out of various stations along the eastern seaboard enforcing navigation and fishing laws. Her most frequent bases of operation during that period were Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
and Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
; Arundel Cove, Maryland; and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
US Coast Guard
On 28 January 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving ServiceUnited States Life-Saving Service
The United States Life-Saving Service was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers...
were merged and named the U. S. Coast Guard. A year later, on 1 February 1916, Miami was renamed Tampa.
US Navy in World War I
On 6 April 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Tampa was transferred to Navy jurisdiction for the duration of hostilities. During the next four months, she received heavier armament by trading her three six-pounders for two three-inch (76 mm) and two four-inch (102 mm) guns, a pair of machine guns and depth charge throwers and racks. After preparations at the Boston Navy YardBoston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
, Tampa moved to the New York Navy Yard
Brooklyn Navy Yard
The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...
on 16 September and reported for duty to the commanding officer of Paducah. Ordered to duty overseas, the warship departed New York on 29 September in company with Paducah, Sterling, Hubbard, and five French-manned, American-made submarine chasers in tow. After stops at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. It includes 44,403 residents in the urban area, and approximately 20,113 inhabitants in the three central parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro,...
in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, Tampa and her sailing mates reached Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
on 27 October 1917.
Her war service lasted just eleven months. During that time, she was assigned ocean escort duty protecting convoys from German submarines on the route between Gibraltar and the southern coast of England. On the average, she spent more than half of her time at sea and steamed more than 3500 nautical miles (6,482 km) per month. Between 27 October 1917 and 31 July 1918, she escorted eighteen convoys between Gibraltar and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, losing only two ships out of all those escorted. Though she brought her 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns into action several times against suspected U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
positions, the only verifiable run-in with a German undersea raider proved fatal.
During the late afternoon of 26 September 1918, Tampa parted company with convoy HG-107, which she had just escorted into the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
from Gibraltar. Ordered to put into Milford Haven
Milford Haven
Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, she proceeded independently toward her destination. At 7:30 that evening, as she transited the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
, the warship was spotted by UB-91. According to the submarine war diary entry, the U-boat dived and maneuvered into an attack position, firing one torpedo out of the stern tube at 8:15 from a range of about 550 meters. Minutes later, the torpedo hit Tampa and exploded portside amidships, throwing up a huge, luminous column of water. The water was shocked by a second detonation two minutes later, most likely caused by Tampa's depth charges reaching pressure fuse depth, as the cutter sank with all hands, 115 officers and men as well as 16 passengers at roughly 50° 40' N and 6° 19' W.
Alerted by the convoy flagship, whose radio operator reported having felt the shock of an underwater explosion at about 2045, search and rescue efforts over the succeeding three days turned up only some wreckage, clearly identified as coming from Tampa, and a single unidentified body. Three bodies were later recovered, two from a beach near Lamphey
Lamphey
Lamphey is a village near the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, two miles east of Pembroke.-History:Lamphey is a small village with an estimated population of 250 to 300 people, being located a short distance from the historic town of Pembroke, the birth place of Henry VII, father of Henry...
, Wales, and the other at sea by a British patrol boat.
Tampa was struck from the Navy list as of the date of her sinking.
Legacy
The loss of the Tampa is commemorated by the United States Coast Guard Memorial at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
and in the chapel at the Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial
Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial
Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial is the only American Military Cemetery of World War I in the British Isles. Located approximately southwest of London, Brookwood American Cemetery contains the graves of 468 American war dead, including the graves of 41 unknown servicemen, from World War...
in Surrey, England . In 1999, the crewmen of the Tampa were posthumously presented with the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
.