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Honda Point Disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast, and seven are lost

The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships in history.

The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships in history. On the foggy night of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h) ran aground and wrecked at California's Honda Point (also known as Point Pedernales, with offshore outcroppings known as Devil's Jaw). The location was several miles north of the Santa Barbara Channel, the ships' intended route. Two other destroyers grounded, but were able to maneuver free off the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died; 745 were rescued.

Navigational errors, compounded by unusual ocean currents attributed to Japan's Great Kantō earthquake, were the likely cause. A court-martial board convicted the squadron's commander Edward H. Watson and the acting navigator Donald T.

Historical Significance

The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.

Events Before

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  2. Insulin is first used on humans when Frederick Banting injects 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson to treat his diabet

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  3. James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" is first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies)

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  4. American founder of the Chicago Bears football team George Halas (27) weds Minnie Bushing

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  5. Great Britain issues the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, ending its protectorate over Egypt and grantin

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Events After

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  2. Grossdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft and Völkische Block replace the banned NSDAP

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  3. German-Swiss poet and novelist Hermann Hesse (36) weds Swiss soprano and painter Ruth Wenger (26); divorce in 1927

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  4. 1st Winter Olympic Games open in Chamonix, France

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  5. Vladimir Lenin is placed in a Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on September 8, 1923?
The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships in history. On the foggy night of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h) ran aground and wrecked at California's Honda Point (also known as Point Pedernales, with offshore outcroppings known as Devil's Jaw).
Why is Honda Point Disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California ... significant?
The Honda Point disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.

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September 8 in HistoryYear 1923