Honda Point Disaster

Infobox News event


caption=Aerial view of the southern part of the disaster area, showing five of the seven destroyers. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS "Aroostook". The ships visible are "Delphy", capsized in the small cove at left; "Young", capsized in left center; "Chauncey", upright ahead of "Young"; "Woodbury" on the rocks in the right center; and "Fuller" on the rocks at right.
date=September 8, 1923
time=21:05 local
place=Honda (Pedernales) Point, near Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California
casualties1=23 dead [NHC. [http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/honda_lost.htm Honda casualties] .]
casualties2=Numerous injuries [15 injured on "Delphy" alone. [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/d3/delphy.htm DANFS - Delphy] .] The Honda Point Disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. On the evening of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers, while traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h), ran aground at Honda Point, a few miles from the northern side of the Santa Barbara Channel off the California coast. Two other ships grounded, but were able to maneuver free of the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died in the mishap.

Geography of Honda Point

The area of Honda/Pedernales Point is extremely treacherous for Central California mariners in that it features a series of rocky outcroppings (one of which is today named "Destroyer Rock") sticking out about one-quarter mile, called the "Devil's Jaw", that has been a navigational hazard since the Spanish explorers first came in the 1500s. Also, this is near the entrance to the sometimes treacherous Santa Barbara Channel, a popular shipping shortcut for vessels going to and from the ports of Southern California, that is 12-25 miles wide between the coast and the Channel Islands. The problem with the entrance to the channel is it is one of the windiest places for mariners to go through on the West Coast. Many times winds and waves are so vicious that vessels will ride the storm out at San Miguel Island's small harbor, or waves ranging from 20-30 feet high will force the harbors at Santa Barbara, Ventura, Port Hueneme, and Oxnard to close. The entrance to the Channel acts like a vortex, sucking the winds of Pacific storm systems into the passage. The most dangerous area is from Point Pedernales east, along the stretch of forlorn south-facing coast (much of which is now part of the Vandenberg AFB Western Launch and Test Range), to Gaviota Creek, where U.S. 101 meets the coast from the Santa Ynez Valley. Vessels can be blown ashore, or with the dense fog that is common on the California Central Coast in the summer, ships can simply run aground when they lose track of their location.

The incident

The fourteen ships of Destroyer Squadron 11 (DESRON 11) made their way south from San Francisco Bay to San Diego Bay in the late summer of 1923. The squadron was led by Commodore Edward H. Watson, on the flagship leading the squadron. All were "Clemson"-class destroyers, less than five years old. The ships turned east to course 095, supposedly into the Santa Barbara Channel, at 21:00.

The ships were navigating by dead reckoning, estimating their position by their heading and speed, as measured by propeller turns. At the time radio navigational aids were new and not completely trusted. "Delphy" was equipped with a radio navigational receiver, but ignored the bearings, believing them to be erroneous. No effort was made to take soundings or depth measurements. These operations were not performed due to the need to slow the ships to take readings. The ships were performing an exercise that simulated wartime conditions, hence the decision not to slow down. In this case, the dead reckoning was wrong and the mistake fatal.

Earlier the same day, the mail steamship "Cuba" ran aground nearby. Some attributed these incidents in the Santa Barbara Channel to unusual currents caused by the Tokyo earthquake of the previous week.

hips involved

In order, the ships were (bold marks lost ships):
* USS "Delphy" (DD-261) was the flagship in the column. She ran aground on the shore at convert|20|kn|km/h. After running aground, she sounded her siren. The siren alerted some of the later ships in the column, helping them avoid the tragedy. Three men died. There was one civilian aboard "Delphy". Eugene Dooman, a Japan expert with the State Department, was aboard as a guest of Captain Watson; they had first met in Japan.
* USS "S. P. Lee" (DD-310) was following a few hundred yards behind. She saw "Delphy" suddenly stop, and turned to port (left) in response. She ran into the coast.
* USS "Young" (DD-312) made no move to turn. She tore her hull open on submerged rocks. The water rushed in, and capsized her onto her starboard (right) side within minutes. Twenty men died.
* USS "Woodbury" (DD-309) turned to starboard, but ran into an offshore rock.
* USS "Nicholas" (DD-311) turned to port and also hit a rocky outcropping.
* USS "Farragut" (DD-300) ran aground, but was able to herself. She was not lost.
* USS "Fuller" (DD-297) piled up next to "Woodbury".
* USS "Percival" (DD-298) evaded without damage.
* USS "Somers" (DD-301) was lightly damaged.
* USS "Chauncey" (DD-296) made an attempt to rescue sailors atop the capsized "Young". She ran aground nearby.

The remaining four avoided the rocks:
* USS "Kennedy" (DD-306)
* USS "Paul Hamilton" (DD-307)
* USS "Stoddert" (DD-302)
* USS "Thompson" (DD-305)

Court martial

Ultimately, a Navy court ruled it was the fault of the Captain and navigators. They also assigned blame to the captain of each ship, following the tradition that a captain's first responsibility is to his own ship, even when part of a formation.

Honda Point today

Honda Point, also called Point Pedernales, is located outside of Lompoc, California. It now is part of Vandenberg Air Force Base. There is a plaque and a memorial at the site.

References

Further reading

* Anthony Preston "Destroyers" (1998)
* Elwyn Overshiner "Course 095 To Eternity" (1980)
* Charles Hice "The Last Hours Of Seven Four-Stackers" (1967)
* Charles A. Lockwood "Tragedy At Honda" (1960)

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/ev-1920s/ev-1923/hondapt.htm Center for Naval History's excellent multipage text overview and photo gallery]
* [http://www.worldwar1atsea.net/WW1z07Americas.htm An account of the Point Honda Disaster from a British perspective]
* Haze Gray and Underway's [http://www.hazegray.org/features/honda/ page on the disaster]