Wreckage of US' Biggest WWI Naval Loss Found

A US Coast Guard cutter that vanished in World War I's deadliest American naval combat loss has finally been found. A British dive team says it located the wreck of the USCGC Tampa roughly 50 miles off Cornwall in more than 300 feet of water, a discovery the Coast Guard confirmed Wednesday. The Tampa was hit by a lone torpedo in the Bristol Channel by German submarine UB-91 on Sept. 26, 1918, as it headed to Wales for fuel, reports CBS News. The ship went down in under three minutes, adds CNN; all 131 people aboard—American Coast Guardsmen and Navy personnel, plus British sailors and civilians—were lost.

"When the Tampa was lost with all hands in 1918, it left an enduring grief in our service," said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. "Locating the wreck connects us to their sacrifice and reminds us that devotion to duty endures." The Gasperados Dive Team spent three years searching for the ship, aided by Coast Guard archival images and other data. In a Facebook post, team leader Steve Mortimer called the cutter "of huge importance" to the US and to descendants of those killed, saying their "final resting place is known at last." The service plans further robotic exploration of the wreck, which had escorted 18 wartime convoys and earned special commendation before its final mission.