Honda Point Disaster
Aerial view of the disaster area, showing all seven destroyers. Photographed from a plane assigned to USS Aroostook. The ships are Nicholas and S. P. Lee at the top left. Delphy, capsized and broken 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.
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| Time | 21:05 local |
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| Date | September 8, 1923 |
| Location | Honda (Pedernales) Point, near Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California |
| Coordinates | 34°36′11″N 120°38′43″W / 34.60306°N 120.64528°WCoordinates: 34°36′11″N 120°38′43″W / 34.60306°N 120.64528°W |
| 23 dead | |
| Numerous injuries | |
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 of the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died in the disaster.
The area of Honda Point (now known as Point Pedernales) is extremely treacherous for central California mariners, as it features a series of rocky outcroppings, collectively known as Woodbury Rocks by locals (one of which is today named Destroyer Rock on navigational charts). Called the Devil's Jaw, the area has been a navigational hazard since the Spanish explorers first came in the 16th century. It is just north of the entrance to the Santa Barbara Channel, which was the intended route of the destroyers involved in the disaster.
Captain Edward H. Watson, an 1895 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, commanded Destroyer Squadron Eleven. He had served during the Spanish–American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and World War I. Watson was promoted to captain in 1917. Assigned command of Destroyer Squadron Eleven in July 1922, it was his first time as a fleet commander.
The fourteen ships of Destroyer Squadron 11 (DESRON 11) were steaming 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 destroyer 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. The USS Delphy was equipped with a radio navigation receiver, but her navigator and captain ignored its indicated bearings, believing them to be erroneous. No effort was made to take soundings of water depths due to the necessity of slowing the ships down to take the measurements. The ships were performing an exercise that simulated wartime conditions, hence the decision was made not to slow down. In this case, the dead reckoning was wrong, and the mistakes were fatal. 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.
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