At the first memorial service held at North Island Naval Air
Station on September 23, 1923, Admiral Robert E. Coontz, Commander-in-Chief of the U. S.
Fleet, led the service to honor the 23 sailors who perished at Point Honda. His speech
before 10,000 civilian and military personnel included this stirring message:
"In keeping with the highest
ideals of the Naval Service of the United States, our Destroyer crews at Honda upheld the
best traditions of the Navy. Trained to be ready for the last great moment, those who took
our Destroyers to sea, and who died with their ships, were true in every way to the trust
we had in them - that they would nobly add to the Navy's heroic tradition. At Annapolis,
the young men training to be officers, find upon the walls of the great Naval school the
pictures, busts and records of enlisted men who have made the Navy proud - and it is these
examples, which help fill the young officers with the true spirit which breathes in every
Naval man. It nerves them to duty in the face of death, and sustains them in times of woe.
In our distress for our dead, we are sad; in our admiration for their conduct, we are
exalted."
(Extract
from Tragedy at Honda by Charles A. Lockwood, Vice Admiral, USN (Ret) and Hans Christian
Adamson, Colonel, USAF (Ret).)

DEAD
USS DELPHY
CONWAY, James W.
H., Fireman Third Class, Omaha, Nebraska
DALIDA, Sofronio,
Cabin Cook, Saipan Piaz, Phillipine Islands
PEARSON, James T.,
Fireman First Class, Elk City, Oklahoma
USS YOUNG
BUCHAN, Ralph K.,
Chief Pharmacist, Sonoma, California
DUNCAN, Earl,
Seaman Second Class, Rose, Oklahoma
GRADY, Everett W.,
Fireman Second Class, Gretna, Nebraska
HARRISON, Ernest
C., Fireman First Class, Fort Neches, Texas
JONES, Ernest,
Cabin Cook, New Orleans, Louisiana
KIRBY, Edward C.,
Fireman Third Class, Charlotte, North Carolina
KIRK, Henry T.,
Fireman Third Class, East St. Louis, Illinois
MARTIN, James T.,
Seaman First Class, Dallas, Texas
MORRIS, Wade H.,
Fireman Third Class, Bluff Dale, Texas
OVERSHINER, Gordon
J., Fireman Third Class, San Jose, California
REDDOCK, Clitus
A., Radioman First Class, Ocean Beach, California
ROGERS, Leo F.,
Fireman Third Class, North Baltimore, Ohio
SALZER, Charles
A., Coxswain, New Orleans, Louisiana
SKIPPER, Hugh W.,
Fireman Third Class, Newville, Alabama
SLIMAK, Joseph J.,
Fireman Third Class, Bridgeport, Connecticut
TAYLOR, Max H.,
Engineman Second Class, Spokane, Washington
TORRES, Enrique,
Cabin Steward, Bulacin, Phillipine Islands
VAN SCHAACK, Vern
R., Fireman Third Class, Fraser, Iowa
YOUNG, John,
Fireman First Class, Salt Lake City, Utah
ZAKRZEWSKI,
August, Fireman Second Class, Omaha, Nebraska

INJURED
When word of the grounding
reached Lompoc California, two doctors volunteered to go to the site to treat the injured.
They were Drs. M. S. Kelliher and L. E. Heiges. More than 100 ambulatory cases were
treated. A special train took the more seriously injured to Cottage Hospital in Santa
Barbara, California, on September 9, 1923. Most sustained cut feet or contusions and
suffered shock due to exposure. An article in the New York Times on September 12, 1923,
and Charles Hice in his book The Last Hours of Seven Four-Stackers, listed the names of 13
sailors who were injured. The train returned to Pt. Honda with five doctors aboard from
the Cottage Hospital. They volunteered to assist the Lompoc doctors in providing first aid
to the sailors on site. Their names were: Dr. Rexwald Brown, Dr. Himar Kofoed, Dr.
Benjamin Bakewell, Dr. Harry Henderson and Dr. Irving Wills. Their assistance was greatly
appreciated by all hands, including the doctors from Lompoc, who were ready for some
relief.
The sailors who suffered minor
injuries were treated at the U. S. Naval Hospital, San Diego upon their arrival by train
on the following day. Only nine names could be traced.

Treated
at Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, California
John J. Becker,
Gunner's Mate, (YOUNG) St. Paul, Minnesota
Gilbert W.
Bauschmann, Seaman Second Class, (DELPHY) Brooklyn, New York
Thayer C. Farnham,
Fireman Third Class, (DELPHY) Montgomery, Alabama
Walter C. Gerlach,
Machinist's Mate, (DELPHY) Roy, Idaho
John E. King,
Seaman Second Class, (DELPHY) Mulga, Alabama
Harry B. Krause,
Fireman Second Class, (DELPHY) Winona, Minnesota
Carl J. Lude,
Boilermaker First Class, (DELPHY) Davenport, Iowa
Arthur W. Lund,
Seaman Second Class, (DELPHY) Jamestown, New York
William E. McGahy,
Torpedoman First Class, (DELPHY) Astoria, New York
Eldridge B.
Palmer, Coxswain, (DELPHY) St. Paul, Minnesota
Mike G. Scherer,
Seaman Second Class, (YOUNG) Fanning, Missouri
Gerald E. Tyler,
Signalman Third Class, (DELPHY) Charlston, West Virginia
Dalfin Dagala,
Mess Attendant First Class, (DELPHY) Capiz, Phillipine Islands

Treated
at U. S. Naval Hospital, San Diego, California
L. F. Blodgett
A. P. Mullinix
J. D. Hoff
Wm. Murphy
W. J. Ekenberg
H. F. Morgan
A. Knox
W. Stallman
N. N. Payne
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