Divers find wreck of iconic U.S. ship torpedoed in WWI, killing 131

U.S. Divers find wreck of iconic U.S. ship torpedoed in WWI, killing 131 on board: "Their final resting place is known at last" By Stephen Smith Stephen Smith Managing Editor Stephen Smith is a managing editor for CBSNews.com based in New York. A Washington, D.C. native, Steve was previously an editorial producer for the Washington Post, and has also worked in Los Angeles, Boston and Tokyo. Read Full Bio Stephen Smith April 30, 2026 / 7:41 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google An iconic United States military ship that was sunk by a German submarine in World War I has been discovered by a diving team off the coast of Britain over a century after it was lost, officials revealed Wednesday. The sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa in 1918 in the Bristol Channel killed 131 service members, the largest loss of life on any U.S. combat ship during the war.The long-lost vessel was found by the British diving team Gasperados about 50 miles off Cornwall more than 300 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday. The diving team had previously announced the discovery, declaring they had "finally cracked it" after a three-year search.In the summer of 1917, six United States Coast Guard cutters were sent overseas on convoy duty for the war, and the Tampa was the only one that never returned.  Under the command of Captain Charles Satterlee, the vessel es­corted 18 convoys, earning a special commendation for exemplary service.The ship's logs show that the crew's morale was high and cited acts of selflessness. For example, an electrician once jumped overboard to rescue a drowning British officer and two medical officers once went to another ship to treat an injured boatswain. The crew even loaned the cutter's ice cream freezer to another vessel without permission.But the Tampa's demise was sealed on the night of September 26, 1918. While sailing through the Bristol Channel toward a Welsh port for more fuel, it was torpedoed by the German su...