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→Disaster: added pic
==Disaster==
==Disaster==
[[Image:H84821.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Wrecked destroyers on Honda Point, California, on 9 September 1923; USS ''Chauncey'' (DD-296) is in the foreground, with USS ''Young'' (DD-312) capsized behind her. USS ''Woodbury'' (DD-309) in the center distance. USS ''Fuller'' (DD-297) is partially visible behind the rocks further to the left.]]
However, the Squadron was actually several miles north, and further east, than ''Delphy's'' navigators believed. It was very dark, and almost immediately the ships entered a dense fog. About five minutes after making her turn, ''Delphy'' slammed into the Honda shore and stuck fast. A few hundred yards astern, ''S.P. Lee'' saw the flagship's sudden stop and turned sharply to port, but quickly struck the hidden coast to the north of ''Delphy''. Following her, ''Young'' had no time to turn before she ripped her hull open on submerged rocks, came to a stop just south of ''Delphy'' and rapidly turned over on her starboard side. The next two destroyers in line, ''Woodbury'' and ''Nicholas'', turned right and left respectively, but also hit the rocks. Steaming behind them, ''Farragut'' backed away with relatively minor damage, ''Fuller'' piled up near ''Woodbury'', ''Percival'' and ''Somers'' both narrowly evaded the catastrophe, but ''Chauncey'' tried to rescue the men clinging to the capsized ''Young'' and went aground herself. The last four destroyers, ''Kennedy'', ''Paul Hamilton'', ''Stoddert'' and ''Thompson'' successfully turned clear of the coast and were unharmed. In the darkness and fog enveloping the seven stranded ships, several hundred crewmen were suddenly thrown into a battle for survival against crashing waves and a hostile shore.
However, the Squadron was actually several miles north, and further east, than ''Delphy's'' navigators believed. It was very dark, and almost immediately the ships entered a dense fog. About five minutes after making her turn, ''Delphy'' slammed into the Honda shore and stuck fast. A few hundred yards astern, ''S.P. Lee'' saw the flagship's sudden stop and turned sharply to port, but quickly struck the hidden coast to the north of ''Delphy''. Following her, ''Young'' had no time to turn before she ripped her hull open on submerged rocks, came to a stop just south of ''Delphy'' and rapidly turned over on her starboard side. The next two destroyers in line, ''Woodbury'' and ''Nicholas'', turned right and left respectively, but also hit the rocks. Steaming behind them, ''Farragut'' backed away with relatively minor damage, ''Fuller'' piled up near ''Woodbury'', ''Percival'' and ''Somers'' both narrowly evaded the catastrophe, but ''Chauncey'' tried to rescue the men clinging to the capsized ''Young'' and went aground herself. The last four destroyers, ''Kennedy'', ''Paul Hamilton'', ''Stoddert'' and ''Thompson'' successfully turned clear of the coast and were unharmed. In the darkness and fog enveloping the seven stranded ships, several hundred crewmen were suddenly thrown into a battle for survival against crashing waves and a hostile shore.