USS Delphy (DD-261)

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USS Delphy (DD-261)
USS Delphy in the Boston Navy Yard on October 28, 1919
USS Delphy in the Boston Navy Yard on October 28, 1919
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States
Ship type destroyer
class Clemson class
Shipyard Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. , Squantum Victory Yard , Quincy, Massachusetts
Build number 341
Keel laying April 20, 1918
Launch 18 July 1918
Commissioning November 30, 1918
Whereabouts ran aground at Honda Point, then scrapped
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.83 m ( Lüa )
94.5 m ( Lpp )
width 9.4 m
Draft Max. 3.0 m
displacement 1190  ts standard
1,308 t maximum
 
crew 120 men
Machine system
machine 4 White-Forster boilers
2 Westinghouse - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		27,000 PS (19,858 kW)
Top
speed 		35 kn (65 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

The USS Delphy (DD-261) was a destroyer of the Clemson-class destroyer of the United States Navy . The ship was named after Richard Delphy , an American naval officer who fell in 1813. The destroyer was the flagship of the destroyer flotilla, which ran into the ship disaster at Honda Point on September 8, 1923 and lost seven destroyers and 23 men.

History of the destroyer

The Destroyer No. 261 ran on July 18, 1918 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. in Squantum, Massachusetts and was christened Delphy by the wife of Admiral William S. Sims . On November 30, 1918, the destroyer was commissioned under Commander RA Dawes. She was the first destroyer to be completed on the newly constructed Squantum Victory Yard .

The accrued Northern Pacific

One of the first tasks of the new destroyer was to test new submarine detection tools in New London . As on 1 January 1919, the Marine Transportation Northern Pacific at Fire Iceland ran with 2,481 soldiers on board because that belonged Delphy to the auxiliary ships of the Navy, the abgeborgenen with small submarine hunters soldiers from the wrecked van in the took over the following days and brought them to New York . On January 13, the destroyer left New York again to take part in the winter maneuvers in the Caribbean and practice sharp torpedo shooting. The destroyer returned to New York on April 14th. At the end of this month, the Delphy moved to Boston to take part in securing the first transatlantic flight.

On November 19, 1919, the Delphy then left Boston to move to the American west coast. The ship reached San Diego on December 22nd . There the destroyer was used in practice torpedo shooting and assigned to the reserve on June 12, 1920. After Christmas, the destroyer moved with other destroyers of the reserve to Bremerton in Washington State , where the ship was overhauled from January 4, 1921 in the Puget Sound Navy Yard . From July 22, 1921 to March 20, 1922 the Delphy was in San Diego for training purposes with a 50% regular crew again for training purposes; this was followed by a layover in the shipyard. Subsequently put back into service, the destroyer accompanied the battle fleet to maneuvers off Panama and operated from Balboa from February 6 to April 11, 1923. These exercises were followed by torpedo tests off San Diego. On June 25, the destroyer ran again in the Destroyer Division 31 to Washington for summer maneuvers with the battle fleet.

The end of the Delphy

The accrued and broken Delphy

On the return voyage, the Delphy led with the squadron commander , Captain Edward H. Watson, on board. The squadron consisted of 14 ships, all of which belonged to the Clemson class and were younger than five years. Watson was on the destroyer USS Delphy (DD-261) , which led the line. On the way from San Francisco to San Diego , California , the ships turned east on September 8 at 9:00 p.m. on a course of 095 ° in order to head for the Santa Barbara Channel. The navigation was based on coupling . Although the Delphy had a radio direction finding device , this new technology was not trusted and the bearings were thought to be faulty. Sounding of the water depth was also dispensed with because the speed would have had to be reduced for this and because the ships carried out exercises under war conditions and the journey continued at high speed in the prevailing fog. Delphy led the line of destroyers from the top and noticed too late that this maneuver had been initiated too early and that the destroyers were moving too high towards the much closer coast and offshore islands and crags. The destroyers erroneously approached rocks off the California coast because they were closer to the coast and not as far south as coupled. Despite all efforts to raise the alarm, seven destroyers stranded off the coast and were lost.
see ship disaster at Honda Point

Delphy ran wide and broke, leaving part of the stern underwater. Three crew members died and 15 were injured. The accidental destroyer was decommissioned on October 26, 1923 and the wreck was sold on October 19, 1925.

  • The destroyers that survived the accident, all seven of which were made in California at the Bethlehem Steel subsidiary Union Iron Works in San Francisco between July 1918 and September 1920:
Surname BuildingN ° Launch finished Final fate
USS Percival
(DD-298)		 219 December 5, 1918 1.03.1920 was able to evade and remained undamaged, decommissioned on April 26, 1930/1932 scrapped
USS  Farragut
(DD-300)		 221 11/21/1918 4.06.1920 ran aground but was able to break free and was rescued, decommissioned April 1, 1930 / October 31, 1930 scrapped due to the London Fleet Treaty.
USS Somers
(DD301)		 222 12/28/1918 06/23/1920 was slightly damaged, decommissioned April 10, 1930, scrapped.
USS Stoddert
(DD-302)		 223 January 8, 1919 06/30/1920 was able to evade and remained undamaged, on May 20, 1930 a. D., radio-controlled target ship Light Target No. 1 , AG-18 , target for dive bombers and torpedo bombers from June 30, 1931 , out of service in 1933 and canceled in 1935.
USS Thompson
(DD-305)		 226 January 15, 1919 08/16/1920 was able to avoid the accident and remained undamaged, decommissioned on April 4, 1930, then demolished, Hull used as a restaurant, used as a target from February 1944, available as "South Bay Wreck".
USS Kennedy
(DD-306)		 227 January 18, 1919 August 5, 1920 was able to avoid the accident and remained undamaged, decommissioned May 1, 1930, demolished from March 1931.
USS  Paul Hamilton
(DD-307)		 228 02/21/1919 09/24/1920 was able to avoid the accident and remained undamaged, decommissioned on January 20, 1930, demolished from 1931.

literature

  • Anthony Preston, Randal Gray (eds.): Conway's All the World Fighting Ships 1906-1921 . Conway Maritime Press Ltd, London 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5 .

Web links

Commons : USS Delphy (DD-261)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c CLEMSON destroyers (1918-1922)
  2. ↑ Northern Pacific DANFS
  3. ↑ a b c Delphy (Destroyer No. 261)
  4. ^ Point Pedernal Disaster
  5. ↑ USS DELPHY (DD-261)
  6. ↑ Percival I (Destroyer No. 298)
  7. ↑ Farragut II (Destroyer No. 300) 1920-1930
  8. ↑ Somers IV (Destroyer No. 301)
  9. ^ Stoddert (Destroyer No. 302)
  10. ↑ Thompson I (Destroyer No. 305) 1919-1930
  11. ↑ EX-USS THOMPSON
  12. ↑ Kennedy (Destroyer No. 306)
  13. ↑ Paul Hamilton I (Destroyer No. 307)