Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 66721:  Wrecked destroyers at Honda Point, California, September 1923

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The 1920s -- 1923

Honda Point Disaster, 8 September 1923

The Navy's greatest navigational tragedy took place in September 1923 at an isolated California coastal headland locally known as Honda Point. Officially called Point Pedernales, Honda is a few miles from the northern entrance of the heavily-traveled Santa Barbara Channel. Completely exposed to wind and wave, and often obscured by fog, this rocky shore has claimed many vessels, but never more at one stroke than at about 9 PM on the dark evening of 8 September 1923, when seven nearly new U.S. Navy destroyers and twenty-three lives were lost there.

Just over twelve hours earlier Destroyer Squadron ELEVEN left San Francisco Bay and formed up for a morning of combat maneuvers. In an important test of engineering efficiency, this was followed by a twenty-knot run south, including a night passage through the Santa Barbara Channel. In late afternoon the fourteen destroyers fell into column formation, led by their flagship, USS Delphy. Poor visibility ensured that squadron commander Captain Edward H. Watson and two other experienced navigators on board Delphy had to work largely by the time-honored, if imprecise, technique of dead reckoning. Soundings could not be taken at twenty knots, but they checked their chartwork against bearings obtained from the radio direction finding (RDF) station at Point Arguello, a few miles south of Honda. At the time they expected to turn into the Channel, the Point Arguello station reported they were still to the northward. However, RDF was still new and not completely trusted, so this information was discounted, and DesRon 11 was ordered to turn eastward, with each ship following Delphy.

However, the Squadron was actually several miles north, and further east, than Delphy's navigators believed. It was very dark, and almost immediately the ships entered a dense fog. About five minutes after making her turn, Delphy slammed into the Honda shore and stuck fast. A few hundred yards astern, USS S.P. Lee saw the flagship's sudden stop and turned sharply to port, but quickly struck the hidden coast to the north of Delphy. Following her, USS Young had no time to turn before she ripped her hull open on submerged rocks, came to a stop just south of Delphy and rapidly turned over on her starboard side. The next two destroyers in line, Woodbury and Nicholas, turned right and left respectively, but also hit the rocks. Steaming behind them, USS Farragut backed away with relatively minor damage, USS Fuller piled up near Woodbury, USS Percival and Somers both narrowly evaded the catastrophe, but USS Chauncey tried to rescue the men clinging to the capsized Young and herself went aground nearby. The last four destroyers, Kennedy, Paul Hamilton, Stoddert and Thompson successfully turned clear of the coast and were unharmed. In the darkness and fog enveloping the seven stranded ships, several hundred crewmen were suddenly thrown into a battle for survival against crashing waves and a hostile shore.

This page features all the aerial views we have related to the 8 September 1923 destroyer groundings at Honda Point, California, and provides links to other relevant images.

For more images related to the September 1923 Honda Point Disaster, see:

  • Honda Point Disaster -- Surface Views of the Southern Wrecks;
  • Honda Point Disaster -- Surface Views of the Northern Wrecks;
  • Honda Point Disaster -- Later Views of the Wrecks.

    For additional information concerning the September 1923 Honda Point Disaster, see the Navy Department Library presentation: Honda (Pedernales) Point, California, Disaster, 8 September 1923


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 66724

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view taken from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3), soon after seven ships of Destroyer Squadron Eleven ran aground on Honda Point, California, during the night of 8 September 1923.
    Point Arguello and its lighthouse are in the foreground. Some of the stranded ships are visible in the distance. Those identifiable are:
    USS Fuller (DD-297) in the upper right, just to left of a small rock island;
    and USS Young (DD-312), capsized between Fuller and the mainland, in upper right.
    Two salvage ships are standing by, to the left of Fuller.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 570 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69587

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the disaster area, looking northward, seen from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3). Visible are six of the seven destroyers that ran aground on Honda Point during the night of 8 September 1923. They are:
    USS Fuller (DD-297), at left;
    USS Woodbury (DD-309), just ahead of Fuller;
    USS Young (DD-312), capsized in the center of the view;
    USS Chauncey (DD-296), upright just ahead of Young;
    USS Nicholas (DD-311), beyond the rocks in the center;
    and USS Delphy (DD-261), capsized in the small cove between Chauncey and Nicholas.
    The remaining ship, USS S.P. Lee (DD-310), is out of sight behind the rocky point, astern of Nicholas.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 560 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 66723

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the disaster area, showing the seven destroyers that ran aground in a fog during the night of 8 September 1923. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3).
    Ships are: USS Nicholas (DD-311), in the left center;
    USS S.P. Lee (DD-310), astern of Nicholas;
    USS Delphy (DD-261), capsized in small cove (center);
    USS Young (DD-312), capsized in the center of the view;
    USS Chauncey (DD-296), upright ahead of Young;
    USS Woodbury (DD-309) on the rocks in the center;
    and USS Fuller (DD-297), closest to the camera.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 66721

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the disaster area, showing all seven destroyers that ran aground on Honda Point during the night of 8 September 1923. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3).
    Ships are: USS Nicholas (DD-311), in the upper left;
    USS S.P. Lee (DD-310), astern of Nicholas;
    USS Delphy (DD-261), capsized in the left center;
    USS Young (DD-312), capsized in the center of the view;
    USS Chauncey (DD-296), upright ahead of Young;
    USS Woodbury (DD-309) on the rocks in the center;
    and USS Fuller (DD-297), in the lower center.
    The Southern Pacific Railway's Honda Station is in the upper left.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 66722

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the southern part of the disaster area, showing five of the seven destroyers that ran aground on Honda Point during the night of 8 September 1923. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3). Ships visible are:
    USS Delphy (DD-261), capsized in the small cove at left;
    USS Young (DD-312), capsized in left center;
    USS Chauncey (DD-296), upright ahead of Young;
    USS Woodbury (DD-309) on the rocks in the right center;
    and USS Fuller (DD-297) on the rocks at right.
    The Southern Pacific Railway's Honda Station is in the upper middle.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 66720

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the southern part of the disaster area, showing four of the seven destroyers that ran aground on Honda Point during the night of 8 September 1923. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3).
    Ships visible are USS Delphy (DD-261), capsized in the lower left; USS Chauncey (DD-296), upright beyond Delphy; USS Young (DD-312), capsized aft of Chauncey; and USS Woodbury (DD-309) at right.
    Point Arguello lighthouse is in the center distance.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69585

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the disaster area, looking westward, seen from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3). Visible are five of the seven destroyers that ran aground on Honda Point during the night of 8 September 1923. They are:
    USS Fuller (DD-297), beyond the small rock island in the center;
    USS Woodbury (DD-309), just ahead of Fuller;
    USS Chauncey (DD-296), closest to the camera;
    USS Young (DD-312), capsized astern of Chauncey;
    and USS Delphy (DD-261), barely visible, capsized just beyond the coast at right.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 570 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69586

    Honda Point Disaster, September 1923


    Aerial view of the disaster area, looking westward, seen from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook (CM-3). USS Fuller (DD-297) is in the center, with her bow toward the camera.
    Nearer, and listing to port, is USS Woodbury (DD-309).
    Note the oil in the water from these two ships, and from others that were wrecked at the same time.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Admiral William V. Pratt.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 106KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     

    For more images related to the September 1923 Honda Point Disaster, see:

  • Honda Point Disaster -- Surface Views of the Southern Wrecks;
  • Honda Point Disaster -- Surface Views of the Northern Wrecks;
  • Honda Point Disaster -- Later Views of the Wrecks.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 14 July 2002
    Link added 27 October 2005