View source for USS Delphy

{{Short description|Clemson-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Delphy (DD-261).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Delphy'' at Boston Navy Yard on 28 October 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1922}}
|Ship name=''Delphy''
|Ship namesake=Richard Delphy
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Squantum Victory Yard]]
|Ship laid down=20 April 1918
|Ship launched=18 July 1918 
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=30 November 1918
|Ship decommissioned=26 October 1923
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=*Wrecked 8 September 1923 in the [[Honda Point disaster]]
*Sold for scrap 19 October 1925
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=1,190&nbsp;tons
|Ship length={{convert|314|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship beam={{convert|31|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship propulsion=*{{convert|26500|shp|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*geared turbines,
*twin propellers
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|4900|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement=120 officers and enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=* 4 × [[4-inch/50-caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/50]] guns
* 2 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/25]] guns
* 12 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Delphy'' (DD-261)''' was a {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} in the [[United States Navy]] following [[World War I]]. It was the [[flagship]] of the destroyer group involved in the [[Honda Point disaster]].

==Namesake==
Richard Delphy was born c. 1795. He was appointed [[Midshipman]] on 18 May 1809 and served during the engagement with {{HMS|Macedonian||6}} on 25 October 1812. He was killed in the action in which {{USS|Argus|1803|6}} lost to {{HMS|Pelican|1812|6}} on 14 August 1813.

==History==
''Delphy'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 18 July 1918 by [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Squantum, Massachusetts]]; sponsored by Mrs. W. S. Sims, wife of Rear Admiral [[William Sims]]; and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 30 November 1918.

Before joining the [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] ''Delphy'' tested [[submarine]] detection devices at [[New London, Connecticut]], from 23 to 31 December 1918 and aided survivors from ''Northern Pacific'', stranded off [[Fire Island, New York]], on New Year's Day, 1919. ''Delphy'' sailed from New York on 13 January for winter maneuvers and torpedo practice in the [[Caribbean Sea]]. Returning to New York on 14 April with the Fleet, she sailed for [[Boston]], Massachusetts, on the last day of the month for operations in preparation for the first [[NC-4|transatlantic seaplane]] flight.

''Delphy'' sailed 19 November 1919 from Boston for the west coast, arriving at [[San Diego, California]], on 22 December. She joined Destroyer Squadrons, [[U.S. Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]], at San Diego for torpedo practice and recovery until placed in reserve on 12 June. ''Delphy'' lay at San Diego until 27 December when she sailed with the other ships of Reserve Destroyer Division for [[Bremerton, Washington]], arriving on 4 January 1921 for an extended overhaul at [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]].

==Honda Point==
[[File:Point Honda wrecks, vessel. - NARA - 295528.jpg|thumb|USS ''Delphy'' (foreground) broken in half at Honda Point]]
Between 22 July 1921 and 20 March 1922 ''Delphy'' operated from San Diego with 50 percent of her [[Ship's company|complement]], and then was overhauled. She cruised with the [[Battle Fleet]] for exercises off [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]] from 6 February to 11 April 1923, and then carried out experiments with torpedoes off San Diego. On 25 June she got underway with Destroyer Division 31 for a cruise to [[Washington (state)|Washington]] for summer maneuvers with the Battle Fleet on the return passage.

''Delphy'', under the command of [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] Donald T. Hunter, was the leading destroyer of seven which were stranded on the rocks of the [[California]] coast in dense fog on 8 September 1923.<ref>
{{cite book
|author=Charles Hocking
|title=Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During The Age of Steam
|publisher=The London Stamp Exchange, London 
|isbn=0-948130-687
|year=1990}}, 184.</ref> This event became known as the [[Honda Point disaster]]. ''Delphy'' crashed broadside and broke in half, her stern below the surface. Three of her crew died and 15 were injured.

She was [[Ship commissioning#Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] as of 26 October 1923, and sold as a wreck 19 October 1925.

As of 2007, no other US Navy ships have been named ''Delphy''.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/delphy.html}}

==External links==
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/261.htm Navsource]

{{Clemson class destroyer}}
{{1923 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delphy (DD-261)}}
[[Category:Clemson-class destroyers|Delphy]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the California coast]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1923]]