Naval History and Heritage Command

Samuel Phillips Lee, the grandson of Revolutionary War statesman Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, was born on 13 February 1812 at the Sully Plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was appointed midshipman on 22 November 1825 and served in sloop-of-war Hornet for six months on the West Indies Station. He served three years in the Mediterranean and joined Lt. Charles Wilkes's exploring expedition from 1838 to 1842. Lee spent most of the next decade conducting coastal surveys.

Following what has been termed a “long and stormy courtship,” Lee married Elizabeth Blair on 27 April 1843, a union that produced one child, a son, Francis Preston Blair Lee, born on 9 August 1857. Volunteering for combat service during the Mexican-American War, S.P. Lee took part in the capture of Tabasco, Mexico. In 1854, he commanded the brig Dolphin and conducted oceanographic surveys in the North Atlantic. In 1859, Lee’s father-in-law, Francis Preston Blair, built a house for the Lees next door to his own in Washington, D.C. The Blair house on Lafayette Square was where Robert E. Lee, Lee’s third cousin, declined President Abraham Lincoln’s offer of command of U.S. forces in suppressing the Southern insurrection. These two homes, within a block of the White House, were later combined into one and became the property of the U.S. government, becoming known as the Blair-Lee House, the presidential guest house.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Lee was in the East Indies in command of the sloop Vandalia. Loyal to the Union, he brought Vandalia home on his own initiative and was assigned blockade duty off Charleston, S.C. He was assigned command of the new screw sloop-of-war Oneida and joined Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut’s expedition to capture New Orleans, La., and in subsequent operations on the Mississippi River. During the Civil War, he was away for long periods. Elizabeth's letters to her husband describe wartime life in her homes in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md. Her letters are published in the book Wartime Washington: the Civil War Letters of Elizabeth Blair Lee. She was also a close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln.

As Acting Rear Admiral, Lee commanded the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for two years, choking off vital Confederate commerce. In October 1864, he was transferred to command the Mississippi Squadron, where he finished the war.

After the Civil War, Lee reverted to his permanent rank of captain. Much of his postwar career was spent in Washington, D.C. He was promoted to rear admiral on 22 April 1870 and placed on the retired list on 13 February 1875. He died on 7 June 1897 at his Silver Spring home. When asked why he had remained loyal to the Union when the war began, Lee is said to have replied, "When I find the word Virginia in my commission, I will join the Confederacy."

(DD-310: displacement 1,308; length 114'4"; beam 30'11"; draft 9'9"; speed 35.0 knots; complement 122; armament 4 4-inch, 1 3-inch, 12 21-inch torpedo tubes, two depth charge tracks: class Clemson)

The first S.P. Lee (Destroyer No. 210) was laid down on 31 December 1918 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 22 April 1919, sponsored by Lee descendent Mrs. Thomas J. Wyche [Phillippa Ludwell]; redesignated from Destroyer No. 310 to DD-310 on 17 July 1920; and commissioned on 30 October 1920, Cmdr. George T. Swasey, Jr. commanding.

S.P. Lee was assigned to the Reserve Destroyer Division, Pacific Fleet, San Diego, Calif., operating with a reduced complement during her two years there. She sailed on 6 February 1923 as part of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 11 for combined operations in the Canal Zone. Arriving on 26 February, the destroyer engaged in tactical and strategic maneuvers through the end of March and returned to San Diego on 11 April. Between 25 June and 30 August, S.P. Lee and DesRon 11 cruised the coast of Washington, calling at Tacoma, Port Angeles, and Seattle. She escorted President Warren G. Harding in Henderson (AP-1) on his arrival at Seattle on 27 July from Alaska. S.P. Lee participated in squadron maneuvers through the end of August with Battleship Division 3, arriving in San Francisco on the 31st.

At 0830 on 8 September 1923, 14 ships of DesRon 11, including S.P. Lee, sailed for San Diego under Capt. Edward H. Watson in Delphy (DD-261). Steaming in column in a high-speed engineering run down the California coast, squadron commander Watson used dead-reckoning methods to plot his location rather than available radio beacon navigation markers. Leading the column of destroyers, Delphy changed her course 95º at 2100 to enter the Santa Barbara Channel. Following in line, the squadron’s ships changed course to match.

Delphy changed course too early. Mistaking Point Perdenales for Point Conception, she led the squadron into the rocks of “The Devil’s Jaw,” also called Honda Point. Only five minutes after making the turn, Delphy became stranded on the rocks. Second in line steamed S.P. Lee, which, alerted by emergency flares from Delphy, turned hard to port but could not avoid the rocks. Four more destroyers also struck reefs and were stranded, while two more grounded but were able to free themselves. Another destroyer grounded trying to assist another ship.

S.P. Lee had a pinnacle rock thrust through her bottom into the No. 2 fire room. She was listing to port at a 35º angle about 25 feet from the foot of a steep bluff. After valiant efforts to save the ship, the crew evacuated to a narrow strip of sandy beach using lines carried ashore. No lives were lost on board S.P. Lee, but 23 sailors died from other stranded ships in this, the worst peacetime disaster the U.S. Navy had ever suffered.

The relentless pounding of the Pacific surf rendered all of the stranded ships unsalvageable. S.P. Lee and her six sister ships were stricken from the Navy Register on 20 November 1923. S.P. Lee’s wreckage was sold on 19 October 1925 to Robert J. Smith of Oakland, Calif., who removed some of the destroyer's equipment but proved unable to salvage her hull.

Honda Point lies within the current boundaries of Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif., and is generally inaccessible to visitors. A memorial has been placed overlooking the disaster site, and one of the pinnacle rocks was named “Destroyer Rock.”

Commanding Officers                                Date Assumed Command

Cmdr. George T. Swasey, Jr.                          30 October 1920

Lt. Cmdr. Frank H. Luckel                              5 September 1921

Lt. Cmdr. Howard H. J. Benson                     30 June 1922

Cmdr. Jonathan S. Dowell, Jr.                        28 October 1922

Lt. Cmdr. Frank H. Luckel                               21 March 1923

Gary J. Candelaria

24 May 2024