USN:
USS Delphy, USS Young, USS Woodbury and USS Fuller run aground on Honda Point, CA. September 8th, 1923.
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
Point Arguello on the coast in
Santa Barbara County,
California. Two other ships grounded, but were able to maneuver free off the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died in the disaster.
The fourteen ships of DesRon 11 were steaming south in column from
San Francisco Bay to
San Diego Bay on September 8, 1923. Captain Watson flew his flag on
USS Delphy. All were
Clemson-class destroyers, less than five years old. The ships turned east to course 095, supposedly heading into the Santa Barbara Channel, at 21:00. The ships were navigating by
dead reckoning, estimating positions from their course and speed, as measured by propeller revolutions per minute. At that time
radio navigation aids were new and not completely trusted. USS
Delphy was equipped with a radio navigation receiver, but her captain,
Lieutenant Commander Donald T. Hunter, who was also acting as the squadron's navigator, ignored its indicated bearings, believing them to be erroneous. No effort was made to take soundings of water depths using a
fathometer as this would require the ships to slow down to take the measurements. The ships were performing an exercise that simulated wartime conditions, and Captain Watson also wanted the squadron to make a fast passage to San Diego, so the decision was made not to slow down. Despite the heavy fog, Commodore Watson ordered all ships to travel in close formation and, turning too soon, went aground. Six others followed and sank. Two ships whose captains disobeyed the close-formation order survived, although they also hit the rocks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Point_disaster
USS Kentucky (BB-6) taking on ammunition, circa 1900
