By coincidence, I came across this a few weeks ago when unsuccessfully trying to "Earthview" a mural in Lompoc, which I read about in the Auto Club's Westways Magazine, November/December 2003. Mural Link.

Here's just some of the destruction, as seen from shore, with flagship U.S.S. Delphy in the foreground.

It all happened in about 7 minutes on a dark foggy night. 14 destroyers were traveling south in a single column at 20 knots. The separation between each ship, stern to bow, was about 147 yards - 13 seconds at that speed. A navigation error by the Delphy crashed it into the rocks of the "Devil's Jaw", with most of the other ships following right behind.

Besides the 23 lives and 7 destroyers, it was a $13.5 million loss (in 1923 dollars.) The remains were sold to a salvager for $1,035 two years later. More information here.

Some of these facts are from Great Naval Disasters and Warship Boneyards by Kit Bonner. (Try Amazon.Com "Search Inside" - Wow!)

Thanks for the interesting exercise, Jumble! (Now, maybe Esterrett can explain who Smallwood is.

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