Wreck of USS Nicholas (DD-311)

 military, shipwreck, destroyer (ship), United States Navy

USS Nicholas (DD-311) was a Clemson Class Destroyer commissioned into United States Navy service on November 23rd, 1920 as a member of the US Pacific Fleet. Joining with Destroyer Squadron 11 in February 1923, the Nicholas and her crew were transiting South from San Francisco to San Diego when the Flagship of her formation ran aground at Honda Point on the night of September 8th, 1923.

Alerted to the danger by the Flagship, the Captain of the Nicholas ordered a turn to Starboard but before the Nicholas could respond she hit bottom, damaging her rudder and Port propeller. Heavy swells were soon pushing the Nicholas towards shore and despite the efforts of her crew she hit bottom several more times before getting wedged to a rock pinnacle listing 25 degrees to Starboard. The rocks soon punched several large holes into her hull and she went hard aground and flooded, with large breakers washing over her deck. By first light on September 9th, the Nicholas was beginning to break up and the order was passed to abandon ship. No crew on the Nicholas were lost in her grounding.

www.navsource.org/archives/05/311.htm