Once aground, the men had to fight the surge of the ocean to make it to safety, miraculously on 23 lives were lost from almost 800. This exhibit features artifacts from the shipwrecks, as well as photos of the aftermath.
This exhibit consists primarily of graphic panels, historic photographs, and artifacts. There is a 13-minute-long documentary, which plays on a loop at the exhibit as well. The Honda Disaster is considered the largest peacetime Naval disaster in United States history. It is not the largest loss of life (23 sailors), but the most ships were lost at one time and none of them were more than five years old.
On September 8, 1923, the cargo-passenger ship Cuba was making its way up from Panama towards San Francisco. At 4:15 AM, it ran aground off San Miguel Island. The fourteen destroyers leaving San Francisco that day all received word of the Cuba’s grounding, causing them to worry about heading too far south before turning into the Santa Barbara Channel on their way to San Diego.
Several other things may have helped cause this Honda tragedy:
- Captain Edward H. Watson, Commander of Destroyer Squadron 11, wanted to set a record for the fastest transverse of a squadron from San Francisco to San Diego (remember the saying, “speed kills”). He may have felt a need to redeem himself since a few months earlier, after just taking over the squadron, his newest ship, Zeilin, rammed another ship so hard two sailors fell into the sea. If that was not bad enough, they were in the Pacific Northwest for a Presidential Review, and President Warren Harding was aboard the rammed vessel.
- The Navy had just increased its post-WWI budget, allowing the ships to cruise at 20 knots versus the former limit of 12 knots.
- They were just beginning to use radio-navigation technology, and there was a radio-navigation station at Point Arguello, a few miles from where they struck land. However, they did not trust this new technology; instead, they used “dead reckoning” and calculated their position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course, such as counting the number of turns of the propeller.
- They were under radio silence as a training maneuver, so they were not talking to one another.
- Due to weather conditions, they last sighted land at 11:30 AM.
- On September 1, a large earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, killing 140,000 people and creating 40-foot tsunamis.
Because they wanted to set a speed record, Lt. Commander Donald Hunter, commanding officer of the squadron flagship Delphy, took over the navigation duties. Hunter did not believe the multiple radio navigation readings he received from Point Arguello, which indicated they were on a direct course for the point. He asked for a reciprocal reading (the opposite angle), which showed they were in the mouth of the Santa Barbara Channel. This corresponded with the dead-reckoning calculations, and at 9:00 PM Hunter ordered a 90-degree turn to port.
Immediately upon turning, visibility worsened, and within five minutes Delphy ran aground near a little river/ravine called Honda. Before losing all power, Hunter—thinking they had struck San Miguel Island—ordered the rest of the squadron to “turn hard left.” However, the ships, traveling at 20 knots in a long single column approximately 250 yards apart, had little time to turn. Within five minutes of Delphy striking shore, six other ships had wrecked, and two others suffered some damage but were able to back off the rocks.
The squadron was traveling in three Divisions. Commander Roper, leading the Third Division, had two young navigators who told him they were too far north and too close to land, so when the order to turn hard left came, they did not make a full turn, and had no damage to their ships.
Twenty-three sailors lost their lives in this tragedy. Three were aboard Delphy. The other twenty were aboard Young, third in the line of ships. Young is believed to have hit submerged rocks, which caused the ship, in the words of the Commanding Officer W. L. Calhoun, “to rise up in the air and hit the water like the belly of a whale.” The rocks ripped a hole along the whole length of the ship, and, within 90 seconds, Young was on her side. Most of the Young sailors were probably below decks, in the fire and engine rooms, and just got washed out to sea. The last ship to wreck, Chauncey, (photo at right) was trying to help rescue those aboard Young, whose propeller continued to turn. Chauncey got too close, and the propeller ripped a hole in her side, stranding her on the rocks nearby.
While obviously a major embarrassment to the Navy, it should be noted that after striking the rocks, these sailors and officers exhibited extreme discipline, courage, and bravery. No one abandoned ship before being ordered to. Several exhibited acts of courage and were later cited for their efforts. Three gave up their chance of rescue for the benefit of others.
Learn About Our Other Museum Exhibits
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum has several other fascinating exhibits, and there's something fun for everyone in the family. Come learn about 13,000 years of human history in the Santa Barbara Channel, including the Chumash Indians, deep sea divers, shipwrecks, commercial fishing, and so much more. We also have several contemporary exhibits about the evolution of surfing, oil spills, whales, and marine life. There are several fun and interactive exhibits and activities for kids too.