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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The 1920s -- 1923
Honda Point Disaster, 8 September 1923 --
Surface Views of the Northern Wrecks
Three of DesRon ELEVEN's destroyers went aground near the tip
of Honda Point. Squadron flaghip Delphy
was worst off, broadside to the cliffs and rolling violently.
Her fragile "tin-can" hull was threatening to break
up, making it imperative that her crew get off as soon as possible.
Her stern was close enough to the lower rocks that some men jumped
ashore and made fast a line, over which nearly all the rest followed.
However, three Delphy Sailors lost their lives and the
ship soon broke in two, with the forward section rolling over
onto its port side.
A short distance to the north, but hidden around a rocky corner,
the S.P. Lee
also lay near the cliffs, to which her crew was able to ferry
themselves via life rafts. Once on land, both Delphy's
and S.P. Lee's men had to pull themselves up the sharp
rock face. Most were badly cut and bruised in the process, providing
a great deal of work for the ships' two Pharmacist's Mates, who
also had more serious injuries to care for.
USS Nicholas
had sunk further out, with her stern toward S.P. Lee. Distance
and surf prevented her abandonment until the following morning,
when a life raft ferry system was established to bring her crew
ashore. By that time, a good deal of help was at hand.
At about the time the closest-in ship's crews had reached land,
the sound of a train whistle revealed that they were really on
the mainland, and not miles away on San Miguel island. In fact,
the Southern Pacific's coastal railway line, with a well-staffed
maintenance section house, was less than a half-mile inland. Workers
from that facility were soon on the scene to lend assistance and
a call had been sent out for more. Bonfires were built from used
railroad ties to warm the shivering Sailors. More helpers came
in by rail from the village of Surf and city of Lompoc, some miles
up the line, and these brought medical aid, food and blankets.
A special train, sent from San Francisco, arrived in mid-afternoon
to carry more than 550 shipwrecked Sailors down to the Naval
Base at San Diego, where they arrived the following night.
This page features all the surface views we have of wrecked
destroyers on the northern side of Honda Point, California, soon
after they went aground on 8 September 1923.
For more images related to the September 1923 Honda Point
Disaster, see:
Honda Point Disaster, 8 September
1923.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 69059
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
USS Delphy (DD-261) capsized and broken in two at Honda
Point, California, shortly after she ran aground in a fog during
the night of 8 September 1923.
USS Nicholas (DD-311), wrecked at the same time, is in
the background.
Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco,
California, 1969.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 575 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 44825
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
USS Nicholas (DD-311) wrecked at Honda Point, California,
shortly after she ran aground in a fog during the night of 8
September 1923.
Note boat at left, possibly conducting salvage operations.
Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1965.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 445 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 84820
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
USS S.P. Lee (DD-310), at right, and USS Nicholas
(DD-311) wrecked at Honda Point, California, soon after the night
of 8 September 1923, when they went ashore in a fog.
Photograph by Aston.
Donation of Captain George M. Grening, USN (Retired).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 86412
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
USS Nicholas (DD-311) and USS S.P. Lee (DD-310),
at far right, wrecked at Honda Point, California, soon after
the night of 8 September 1923, when they went ashore in a heavy
fog.
Collection of Edward C. Knapp, Sr., courtesy of John E. Knapp,
1978.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 86414
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
Wrecked destroyers on Honda Point, California, soon after the
night of 8 September 1923, when they went ashore in a heavy fog.
USS Nicholas (DD-311) is at left and USS S.P. Lee
(DD-310) is in the center, close to the rocks.
Collection of Edward C. Knapp, Sr., courtesy of John E. Knapp,
1978.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 42174
Honda Point disaster, September 1923
USS S.P. Lee (DD-310) and USS Nicholas (DD-311)
-- partially visible in upper left -- on the rocks at Honda Point,
California, shortly after they ran aground in a fog during the
night of 8 September 1923.
Note life rafts alongside S.P. Lee.
Donation of BMGC Ralph E. Turpin, 1963.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 435 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 67123
Honda Point Disaster, September 1923
USS S.P. Lee (DD-310) wrecked at Honda Point, California,
soon after she ran aground in a fog during the night of 8 September
1923.
Courtesy of Leonard Aquillard, 1969.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 84KB; 530 x 765 pixels |
 |
For more images related to the September 1923 Honda Point
Disaster, see:
Honda Point Disaster, 8 September
1923.
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Historical Center home page.
Page made 14 July 2002
Text added 27 July 2002