333. No Survivors of the USS Tampa 1918

Updated: Mar 24, 2022

So many times throughout our nation's history, citizens of Milton and Pensacola have been involved in making America what it is today! They have charged bravely over the enemy's ramparts during the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. They walked the decks of the famous ships lost in the Bermuda Triangle, sunk the enemy's carriers at Midway, died with the famous Tuskegee Squadrons, silenced Teddy Roosevelt's' Rough Riders, or went down with the celebrated USS Indianapolis.

But sometimes, there passes through the pages of our city's history those that were never born here or married into the families that were. But, we still honor them all the same and speak of them as if they're one of our own. Such was a young naval officer Lt. John Thomas Carr (1878-1918) and his lovely wife Margaret "Maggie" Mary Moy (1878-1972). John was born in Massachusetts in 1878 while Maggie was the daughter of Michaele and Maria Houston Moy, an Irish photographer. The two married in 1902 as John was embarking on his career with the United States Coast Guard. By 1913, John was a 2nd Lieutenant (engineer) aboard the USS Gresham in Boston, MA. But finally, John received a promotion to 1st Lieutenant with orders to report to the sleepy coastal town of Pensacola, Florida. There, he was to take command of the Coast Guard cutter USS Charles B. Penrose. She was built in 1883 as a wooden-hulled vessel with a length of 67 feet and a width of 12 feet. Ironically, John apparently arrived in Pensacola sometime before the US Coast Guard had even been created by Congress in 1915. What was known as the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service were actually the predecessors of the Coast Guard before they merged in 1915.

But, first of all, Maggie needed a home to set up housekeeping! So the couple rented a beautiful, stately home at 710 North Spring Street, right in the heart of Pensacola's society neighborhood. Most likely, the location of the home was in direct relationship to where the Penrose was docked. Since the new Coast Guard service had been placed under the US Treasury Department and not under the US Navy then it would not have been docked at the Navy Yard. But there was a Federal wharf located behind the Pensacola Gas & Supply Company at 713 South Palafox Street, which was in close proximity to John and Maggie's new house. With their home in order, they settled down to their idyllic life as John fulfilled his duties enforcing the area boat laws and Federal custom regulations. But then America was brought into World War I in 1917 and everything changed! The US Coast Guard was now transferred to the Navy department along with all of its personnel and cutters. As America prepared for war, Lt. Carr received his orders to report to the USS Tampa (formerly the USS Miami), while Maggie returned home to her family.

After being outfitted her with her armament, the Tampa sailed with several other cutters for their new base at Gibraltar, reaching there in October 1917. Her new duties were as an armed escort for convoys traveling to and from England and the Mediterranean. But on September 26, 1918, she was escorting a convoy to Milford Haven, Wales and were sailing in the Bristol Channel. Suddenly, the other ships saw the Tampa increase her speed and pull ahead of the convoy, supposedly to refuel. But at 8:45 PM, in the pitch dark of night the convoy heard a loud explosion somewhere in her direction and the Tampa was never seen again. A search was made the next day by air and naval forces, but the only thing found was a few pieces of wreckage and two unidentifiable bodies in naval uniforms. Two other bodies would be found later but the fate of the cutter was only speculation. The loss of 131 men was the greatest single battle casualty incurred by the Navy during the war.

After the war, documents showed that the German UB-91 submarine spotted a lone ship and dove for the attack. Thirty minutes later they fired one torpedo and saw one huge initial explosion and a smaller secondary one, which was probably the Tampa's depth charges going off. Then nothing! Between the 25th of September and the 4th of October, the UB-91 had sent four ships to the bottom.

In the meantime, not only did Maggie lose her husband but another family lost both their sons onboard the Tampa that night. Seaman Algy Know Bevins of Davenport, Florida was serving onboard with his brother, Arthur. Algy wrote to his parents a week after joining the Tampa, stating " I am firing and Art is passing coal. Our duties is life saving and coast guarding. Something which there is very little danger compared to the regular service. Don’t worry (Mom) about us for we both like it and there is nothing to worry about." In addition to the brothers was the fact the city of Tampa, the ship’s namesake, loss nineteen crew members from that city.