Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs

The Sinking and Discovery of the USCGC Tampa

On September 26, 1918, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa vanished into the Bristol Channel after a German U-boat torpedo struck her hull, killing all 131 sailors and personnel aboard in what remains the largest single loss of American life in combat during World War I. For over a century, the ship's final resting place stayed a mystery until April 2026, when a British volunteer dive team called Gasperados located her wreckage roughly 50 miles off Newquay, Cornwall, more than 300 feet beneath the Atlantic.

In this video, we cover the full story of the Tampa: her origins as the Revenue Cutter Miami in 1912, her service on international ice patrols, her wartime role escorting convoys through U-boat-infested waters, the night she was lost, and the painstaking three-year search that finally solved one of the Coast Guard's oldest mysteries.
🔹 The Tampa's early years and transformation into a Coast Guard cutter
🔹 Her WWI convoy escort missions across the Atlantic
🔹 The attack by German submarine UB-91
🔹 How the Gasperados dive team and Coast Guard historians identified the wreck
🔹 What the discovery means for the families of the lost crew

Guests for this episode are:
🔹 Dr. Bill Thiessen, Historian for the USCG Atlantic Area
🔹 Dom Robinson, Gasperados Dive Team
🔹 Gary Thomas, CDR Gary M. Thomas, USCG (Ret.)

👉 Dom Robinson's YouTube Channel: @DeepWreckDiver
👉 Gasperados Dive Team: https://www.facebook.com/p/Gasperados-Dive-Team-61579320759276/
👉 US Coast Guard History: https://www.history.uscg.mil/home/history-program/
👉 Foundation for Coast Guard History: https://fcgh.org/

#USCGCTampa #CoastGuardHistory #WWIShipwreck #NavalHistory #Shipwreck #WorldWarI #MaritimeHistory #Cornwall #UBoat #podcast #history

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** No AI was used to create this episode.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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In the summer of 1813, American and British forces raced to build fleets on the shores of Lake Erie, each side betting that naval control would decide the fate of the western frontier. On September 10th, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry sailed his squadron out to meet the British fleet under Robert Barclay. Early in the battle, Perry's flagship Lawrence was battered into a wreck, forcing him to row through open water under fire to reach the Niagara and continue the fight. Turning the tables, Perry drove his second ship straight into the British line, breaking their formation and forcing a full surrender within hours. The victory gave the U.S. total command of Lake Erie, cut off British supply lines, and paved the way for General William Henry Harrison's recapture of Detroit and the Battle of the Thames. Perry's now famous "Don't Give Up The Ship" battle flag resides at the US Naval Academy as one of its most treasured artifacts.

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** No AI was used to create this episode.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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In this episode, Rich speaks with author Julie Gerstenblatt, author of Daughters of Nantucket, which won the New England Society Book Award for Fiction, to discuss her new historical novel, The Stargazer of Nantucket.

Set in 1851, the novel follows Winifred Starbuck, an eighteen-year-old who stows away on her parents' final merchant voyage from Nantucket Island to San Francisco and across the Pacific to the ports of China, only to uncover a long-buried secret that reveals the truth behind her parents' desperate fear. Gerstenblatt and Rich dig into the real maritime history behind the fiction, including the novel's connection to the record-setting maiden voyage of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, the golden age of sail, the dangers of 19th-century trade voyages, and what it took to bring this seafaring world to life on the page.

To purchase Stargazer of Nantucket, please visit https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Julie+Gerstenblatt

For more information about Julie Gerstenblatt please visit https://www.juliegerstenblatt.com/.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES**
👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel. Subscribe here: ⁠https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod⁠
👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: ⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠
👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple⁠

👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available!
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*No remuneration was received by or paid by Rich Napolitano or Nautilus Media, LLC for Ms. Gerstenblatt's appearance on Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs. An advance copy of the author's work was provided by the publisher for review.

** No AI was used to create this video.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠

You can also listen to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. ⁠https://www.podfollow.com/shipwreckspod

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The Terror and the Franklin Expedition

Rich recently appeared as a guest on Based on a True Story Podcast with Dan Lefebvre to discuss fact versus fiction in AMC's The Terror, Season 1. This series is a sci-fi/horror adaptation of the novel by Dan Simmons called The Terror portraying the 1845 Franklin Expedition as they search for a passage through the Canadian Arctic on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

Based on a True Story Podcast compares historical accuracy versus what was portrayed on screen, and delves into some of the biggest films and television shows of all time. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube.

For more information about Based on a True Story Podcast, please visit BasedonaTrueStoryPodcast.com.

All episodes, notes, and transcripts can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
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The Herald of Free Enterprise: How a Routine Ferry Crossing Became One of Britain's Deadliest Peacetime Disasters | Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs

On the night of March 6, 1987, the roll-on/roll-off ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge bound for Dover with nearly 500 passengers and crew aboard. Minutes after clearing the harbor, the ship rolled onto its side in shallow water, claiming 193 lives in one of the most consequential maritime disasters of the 20th century.

In this episode of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, host Rich Napolitano traces the chain of small failures, design flaws, and operational pressures that turned a routine cross-Channel run into catastrophe. Topics discussed include the open bow doors that let the North Sea pour onto the car deck, the free surface effect that capsized the ship in under two minutes, the frantic rescue effort in freezing water, and the Sheen Inquiry that famously diagnosed the ferry operator's culture as suffering from a "disease of sloppiness." This disaster reshaped international maritime safety law and changed RO-RO ferry future designs.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES**
👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel — subscribe here: https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod
👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon
👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple

👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available!
https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com

👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod

#HeraldOfFreeEnterprise #ShipwreckHistory #ZeebruggeDisaster #MaritimeDisaster #FerryDisaster #MaritimeHistory #NauticalHistory #HistoryPodcast #ShipwrecksAndSeaDogs #Townsend #Thoresen

** No AI was used to create this video.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
https://www.seansigfried.com

You can also listen to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. https://www.podfollow.com/shipwreckspod

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices