Fixing the Blame

The seven days following the wreck of seven destroyers (TIME, Sept. 17) on Point Arguello, 75 miles from Santa Barbara, did little to cast light on the question of why the accident befell. The mystery was added to when (six days after the event) news reached the Navy Department that two other destroyers, the Farragut and Somers, had struck the rocks in the accident but escaped being driven ashore.

A Naval board of inquiry, consisting of Rear Admiral William V. Pratt, Captain George Day and Captain David F. Sellers, opened an official investigation at North Island, San Diego, on Sept. 17.

The only light east on the wreck is that possibly there was an unusual coastal current and that wireless communication was " jammed" on account of attempts to send aid to the Pacific Mail liner Cuba, wrecked a few hours earlier on San Miguel Island, 35 miles away. Arguello Point extends out into the Pacific at the place where the wreck occurred, and it is possible that Commander E. H. Watson, in charge of the destroyer squadron, believed that this Point had been rounded.

Early reports generally agreed that there was a heavy fog at the time. If so, it is difficult to explain why the squadron was proceeding at 20 knots. However, in a despatch to the Navy Department Admiral Coontz, Commanding the U. S. Fleet, said:

" The seven wrecked destroyers were without question many miles out of their reckoning, but it was believed they were in a free route. Statements as to visibility conflict; speed was 20 knots. Comment and criticism are premature at present. Only a Court of Inquiry can establish facts."

A report on the state of the beached vessels declared that only one, the Chauncey, can be salvaged entire. From the others it is expected that the machinery at most can be saved.