USCGC Alexander Hamilton ( WPG - 34 ) USCGC " Alexander Hamilton " ( WPG - 34 ) was a . She was named after the first U . S . Secretary of the Treasury , Alexander Hamilton , who was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr . Sunk after an attack by a German U - boat in January 1942 , the " Hamilton " was the U . S . Coast Guard ' s first loss of World War II . Design . The design of the " Alexander Hamilton " was based on the U . S . Navy ' s Erie - class of gunboats . This " Treasury " - class of U . S . Coast Guard cutters was sometimes referred to as the " Secretary " - class . The 327 - foot hull was designed to accommodate a hangar to deploy aircraft in response to the growing problem of narcotics smuggling . History . The " Hamilton " was built at the New York Navy Yard for the U . S . Coast Guard . Her keel was laid on September 11 , 1935 and she was launched on January 6 , 1937 . The U . S . Coast Guard had truncated her name to " Hamilton " that year , but resumed using the full name in January 1942 after a request by the U . S . Navy to avoid confusion with the destroyer USS " Hamilton " . Sinking . On January 29 , 1942 , the " Hamilton " was torpedoed on the starboard side by the German Type VIIC submarine U - 132 , which had been patrolling the Icelandic coast near Reykjavík . The explosion killed twenty men instantly and the total death toll was 26 ( source Dave Michigan , family member ) . After she capsized on January 30 , salvage attempts were abandoned and the American destroyer USS " Ericsson " fired upon the wreck three times to send her to the bottom of the sea , from the coast . Discovery of shipwreck . On August 19 , 2009 , the Icelandic Coast Guard discovered a shipwreck believed to be the " Hamilton " in Faxaflói . After she was positively identified using the technology of a Gavia AUV ( Autonomous Underwater Vehicle ) , Microsoft co - founder Paul Allen flew to Iceland in August 2010 with an entourage to visit the wreck in a mini - submarine . His luxury yacht , the " Octopus " , arrived separately at Reykjavík Harbor for the trip . On the 26th of June , 2011 , a team of divers including Team Blue Immersions Jonas Samuelsson , Aron Arngrimsson and Valgeir Petursson left Reykjavik at 5 am departing for Alexander Hamilton wreck . At 30 miles out and 95 meters down , the wreck lies upside down . This is the first dive team that ever dived this wreck . The dive went without any problems and the conditions were better than expected . The sea at the surface was pretty rough , and most ( including Icelandic Coast Guard ) , warned not to take the boat out saying the dive was impossible to conduct under current conditions . Visibility at the wreck was around 4 meters . Temperature was 7 degrees celsius at 90 meters , which was warmer than divers prepared for . During the deep dive the divers set 3 Icelandic diving records : Deepest wreck dive in Iceland , deepest sea dive in Iceland , and deepest dive ever made in Iceland . Team Blue Immersion is planning a second expedition to US Coast Guard Cutter Alexander Hamilton in August 2013 . This time the team is going to produce a documentary displaying the story of the ship and the life of the brave men that fought and died during the attack and attach a memorial plaque on the ship on their final dive . Attaching memorial plaque on Alexander Hamilton . Team Blue Immersion , including divers Jonas Samuelsson , Aron Arngrimsson , Erik Brown , Chris Haslam in partnership with the diving company OceanReef returned to Alexander Hamilton in August 2013 . On the assignment from the families related to the men that served on the cutter during WWII the Team dived down and attached a memorial plaque on the ship . The plaque listed all men that served and died during the attack by the German VII Submarine on the 29th of January 1942 , just three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor . Interestingly , this is not the only piece of recent news related to Alexander Hamilton and the Coast Guard . On August 10 , just two days before the Team Blue Immersions reached the 1937 Cutter Alexander Hamilton , a new US Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton was launched in the water for the first time . This ship will be the sixth cutter named after Alexander Hamilton . According to the US Coast Guard the formal christening ceremony will be held for the ship in October , 2013 .