USCGC Tampa ( WPG - 48 ) USCGC " Tampa " ( Coast Guard Cutter No . 48 ) was a United States Coast Guard Cutter that served in the United States Coast Guard from 1921 to 1941 , and then in the United States Navy from 1941 to 1947 . History . " Tampa " , a steel - hulled , single - screw cutter , was laid down on 27 September 1920 at Oakland , California , by the Union Construction Company . She was launched on 19 April 1921 , sponsored by Mrs . Joseph P . Conners , and commissioned on 15 September 1921 , Lieutenant Commander M . J . Wheeler , USCG , in command . " Tampa " got underway for the United States East Coast , transited the Panama Canal on 28 October 1921 , and arrived at New York , New York , on 7 November 1921 . On 23 November 1921 , the cutter shifted to Boston , Massachusetts , her home port . In the ensuing years , " Tampa " operated as part of the International Ice Patrol established in the aftermath of the RMS " Titanic " tragedy in 1912 . Between March and July — the peak months in which iceberg s were regarded as a menace to the northernmost transatlantic sea lanes — " Tampa " conducted regular patrols , alternating with USCGC " Modoc " ( Coast Guard Cutter No . 39 ) on 15 - day stretches . At the end of each patrol , " Tampa " would put into Halifax , Nova Scotia , for stores and fuel . Between these cruises in the frigid waters at the northern end of the Atlantic , " Tampa " operated on exercises and maneuvers , sharpened her skill with target practice and battle drills , and patrolled sailing regattas . Shifted to the New York division , with headquarters at Stapleton , New York , in August 1932 , " Tampa " arrived at her new home port on the 27 August 1932 . She operated from this base until the late 1930s . During this time , she participated in the drama which accompanied the tragic fire on board the Ward Line steamer SS " Morro Castle " . " Morro Castle " rescue . At about 0230 on the morning of 8 September 1934 , a fire broke out aboard the ocean liner as she was returning from a Caribbean cruise . The fires spread rapidly , and inept seamanship on the behalf of her captain — who had only taken command after the ship ' s regular master had died earlier that evening — resulted in the loss of many lives . Moored at Staten Island , New York , when " Morro Castle " caught fire , " Tampa " received word of the disaster at 0436 on the morning of 8 September 1934 . She hurriedly recalled her liberty party , got up steam , and put out to sea at 1540 . It took two hours to reach the scene of the holocaust , but when she arrived , " Tampa " assumed direction of the rescue operations which , by that time , were already well underway . Surfboats from the U . S . Coast Guard ' s Shark River Station — the first help to arrive - had rescued some 120 people before the New York pilot boat and boats from the Sandy Hook Station appeared and joined in the effort . The cutter had also been on station for some time . " Tampa " passed a towline to the stricken ship , but it soon parted with the sharp crack of a pistol shot and fouled the cutter ' s screw . " Tampa " herself drifted perilously close to shore before the cutter towed her out of danger . When conducted in smooth seas , operations to save lives are difficult enough ; the gale raging off the New Jersey shore on the morning of 8 September 1934 made matters markedly worse . Nevertheless , the Coast Guardsmen performed feats of great heroism in rescuing the liner ' s passengers and crew from the storm - tossed waves . During the rescue , " Tampa " had accounted for 140 survivors . Shifted to Mobile , Alabama , in the late 1930s , " Tampa " operated in the Gulf of Mexico into 1941 . World War II service . She came under US Navy command in November 1941 , a month before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor . Apparently transferred back to the North Atlantic for coastal convoy escort runs in the Greenland area , " Tampa " departed Narsarssuak , Greenland , on 3 May 1942 to escort the merchantman " Chatham " to the Cape Cod Canal . The ships stopped briefly at St . John ' s , Newfoundland , and then pushed on toward the Massachusetts coast . " Tampa " lost track of " Chatham " in dense fog on the 16th but regained contact near the eastern entrance of the canal and safely conducted the merchantman on her way . " Tampa " then searched , unsuccessfully , for a German U - boat reported in the vicinity before she put into Boston on the 17th . She remained there for repairs and alterations until the 30th when she sailed for Argentia , Newfoundland . While escorting SS " Montrose " , " Tampa " picked up a sound contact and dropped depth charges but could not claim a " kill . " On 3 June , " Montrose " ran aground on Moratties Reef . " Tampa " , assisted by two naval vessels , soon floated the merchantman free ; and the cutter continued her escort mission , routed onward to Greenland . Arriving at Sondrestrom fjord on the 10th , Tampa conducted harbor entrance patrols before proceeding to Ivigtut . There , she guarded the cryolite mine — which provided ore vitally needed for the production of aluminum — from the 16th to the 26th . During the last half of 1942 , " Tampa " — designated WPG - 48 in or around February 1942 — conducted 12 more convoy escort missions between Iceland , Greenland , and Nova Scotia . She left Argentia on 1 January 1943 with " Tahoma " ( WPG - 80 ) , bound for St . John ' s where she arrived soon thereafter . Moored until the 6th , " Tampa " then got underway to escort a convoy routed to Greenland and then screened two groups of merchantmen — GS - 18 and ON - 161 — to Newfoundland . On 29 January , she got underway , with ) and " Comanche " ( WPG - 75 ) , to escort Convoy SG - 19 , which consisted of Army transport and merchantman SS " Biscaya " and SS " Lutz " to Greenland . Bad weather soon hampered the convoy ' s progress ; and the flank escorts , " Comanche " and " Escanaba " , soon had difficulties keeping station . Icing had increased their displacement and reduced their speed accordingly . This fact , in turn , slowed the whole convoy . By 2 February , the weather had somewhat improved ; but a radio direction finder had discovered the presence of an enemy submarine . " Tampa " accordingly screened ahead , some 3 , 000 yards from " Dorchester " , while " Escanaba " and " Comanche " were deployed on each flank , 5 , 400 yards from " Lutz " and " Biscaya " , respectively . Convoy SG - 19 soon came into the periscope sight of , which maneuvered astern to bring her tubes to bear . The U - boat torpedoed " Dorchester " astern at 0355 . " Tampa " observed the transport veering hard to port and showing numerous small lights . " Biscaya " quickly fired two green signal rockets and executed an emergency turn to avoid fouling the mortally stricken " Dorchester " . Three minutes after " Dorchester " had been struck , her master ordered her abandoned . As the ship went down , four Army chaplains gave up their life jackets to soldiers who had none to ensure the survival of others at the expense of themselves . Meanwhile , " Escanaba " and " Comanche " searched for " U - 223 " , while " Tampa " escorted " Lutz " and " Biscaya " to Skovfjord before returning to assist in the hunt for survivors . " Tampa " subsequently searched for survivors on the 4th , but sighted only numerous bodies ; two swamped lifeboats manned only by corpses ; and seven life rafts . She found no signs of life before she returned to Narsarssuak on 6 February . " Tampa " resumed convoy operations , performing local escort in the Greenland area for the remainder of February 1943 . She continued these operations through the spring . On 12 June 1943 , she departed Narsarssuak with four other escorts , escorting a three - ship convoy for Argentia . The next day , at 0508 , she observed smoke on the horizon , and received a report that " Escanaba " was afire . In fact , " Escanaba " had been blown to bits by an explosion of undetermined origin . Only three survivors were picked up by " Raritan " ( WYT - 93 ) , and one of these died . The other two could not explain what had destroyed their ship . " Tampa " escorted convoys for the remainder of 1943 before returning to Boston on the last day of the year for an overhaul which extended through January 1944 . She resumed convoy escort operations in the North Atlantic , between Boston and Greenland — primarily in the Argentia and Narsarssuak vicinities — and continued the task through 1944 and into 1945 . Post war service and fate . With the cessation of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 , Tampa resumed ice patrols off the Grand Banks in June through August , alternating with " Modoc " ( WPG - 46 ) and " Mojave " ( WPG - 47 ) . Leaving Argentia on 6 September 1945 , less than a month after the war against Japan ended , " Tampa " operated between there and Boston , receiving a 30 - day availability at the Coast Guard yard in Boston in November and December . " Tampa " subsequently cruised on North Atlantic ice patrol duties into August 1946 . She was decommissioned on 1 February 1947 and turned over to the Maritime Commission ' s War Shipping Administration which sold her to Charles M . Barnett , Jr . , on 22 September 1947 .