American Legion Cemetery; Tampa, Florida

This is a privately owned veteran's cemetery which is maintained by U.S.S. Tampa, American Legion Post No. 5. This post is named for a USCG cutter that served convoy duty during WWII. Due to the quality of the crew (and luck of battle), the U.S.S. Tampa completed 18 convoy escorts with the loss of only two ships. It was sunk on Sept 26 1918 off the coast of England. All of the 115 crew members and officers died. Very little was ever found besides some wreckage and two unidentified bodies.

There is more information on the A History of the Coast Guard At War

page on the United States Coast Guard

website.

This cemetery was featured in an article ("Tampa Bay's 'Six Feet Under' Tour" by Karen Haymon Long) in the June 23, 2002 The Tampa Tribune Travel Section.

Original posting of this section: December 7, 2002

Cemeteries of Florida
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