1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:26,490 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Captain Donald Hunter, or Dolly to his friends, was 2 00:00:26,530 --> 00:00:32,690 Speaker 1: a legendary navigator. One historian described his reputation as having 3 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:36,970 Speaker 1: the homing instinct of a river bound salmon. It spent 4 00:00:37,250 --> 00:00:41,370 Speaker 1: years at the Naval Academy teaching other US Navy officers 5 00:00:41,650 --> 00:00:48,050 Speaker 1: how to navigate friendly, easygoing. A little overweight, Captain Hunter 6 00:00:48,290 --> 00:00:56,330 Speaker 1: was nevertheless a decisive, confident man. This particular mission certainly 7 00:00:56,410 --> 00:01:01,290 Speaker 1: called for decisiveness. It was nineteen twenty three. Budgets were 8 00:01:01,370 --> 00:01:05,810 Speaker 1: tight after postwar demobilization, and to save money on fuel, 9 00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:11,490 Speaker 1: US Navy vessels were understanding all to travel slowly, but 10 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:19,410 Speaker 1: not this time. Fourteen new warships from Destroyer Squadron eleven 11 00:01:19,970 --> 00:01:25,450 Speaker 1: had permission to travel fast from San Francisco to San Diego. 12 00:01:26,290 --> 00:01:30,090 Speaker 1: These maneuvers were designed to test the turbines of the destroyers, 13 00:01:30,370 --> 00:01:33,170 Speaker 1: checking that they could run at high speed, and they 14 00:01:33,210 --> 00:01:37,690 Speaker 1: were designed to test the sailors too. Could Squadron eleven 15 00:01:37,930 --> 00:01:41,210 Speaker 1: keep tight together in formation following the lead of the 16 00:01:41,250 --> 00:01:44,490 Speaker 1: flagship with a minimum of radio chat. That was the 17 00:01:44,530 --> 00:01:48,010 Speaker 1: sort of swift, unfussy maneuvering that would be called for 18 00:01:48,090 --> 00:01:54,170 Speaker 1: in war. The head of Destroyer Squadron eleven commodore Watson 19 00:01:54,570 --> 00:01:58,930 Speaker 1: was on board the flagship Captain Hunter's ship, USS Delphi. 20 00:01:59,650 --> 00:02:03,530 Speaker 1: Together they would demonstrate just how skilled the sailors of 21 00:02:03,610 --> 00:02:09,050 Speaker 1: Squadron eleven could be. And so on the eighth of September, 22 00:02:09,490 --> 00:02:13,770 Speaker 1: the fourteen destroyers left San Francisco, each with about one 23 00:02:13,850 --> 00:02:18,970 Speaker 1: hundred men on board. They would scythe southeast, hugging the 24 00:02:19,010 --> 00:02:23,610 Speaker 1: coast of California. They'd pass the prominent Point Arguello with 25 00:02:23,690 --> 00:02:28,290 Speaker 1: its lighthouse and radio station, and then turn sharply east 26 00:02:28,370 --> 00:02:31,490 Speaker 1: into the Santa Barbara Channel, between the beaches of Los 27 00:02:31,530 --> 00:02:38,010 Speaker 1: Angeles and the channel islands offshore. You had to turn 28 00:02:38,170 --> 00:02:43,210 Speaker 1: pretty soon after passing Point Arguello. Wait too long and 29 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:46,890 Speaker 1: you'd hit those islands, such as the vicious rocks of 30 00:02:46,930 --> 00:02:51,290 Speaker 1: the Island of San Miguel. They could, of course swing 31 00:02:51,450 --> 00:02:55,490 Speaker 1: wide around the outside of the islands well clear of trouble, 32 00:02:56,050 --> 00:02:59,090 Speaker 1: but that would take longer, and the whole point of 33 00:02:59,130 --> 00:03:03,450 Speaker 1: the speed trial was to test Squadron eleven under pressure. 34 00:03:09,170 --> 00:03:13,890 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter certainly didn't seem worried, but his young assistant 35 00:03:14,210 --> 00:03:19,130 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Larry Blodgett was. The sea was rough, with strong 36 00:03:19,250 --> 00:03:24,330 Speaker 1: currents and strong winds. Visibility was poor, but at least 37 00:03:24,330 --> 00:03:28,890 Speaker 1: there was the radio station at Point Arguello. Radio direction 38 00:03:29,090 --> 00:03:32,450 Speaker 1: finding was a new technology, and as a young officer, 39 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:37,290 Speaker 1: Lieutenant lodget had eagerly learned all about it. Neither fog 40 00:03:37,410 --> 00:03:41,610 Speaker 1: nor darkness could interfere with those radio beams. It was amazing. 41 00:03:45,610 --> 00:03:50,090 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter had been an expert navigator long before radio 42 00:03:50,210 --> 00:03:54,770 Speaker 1: direction finding had been introduced, and he was less impressed. 43 00:03:56,010 --> 00:04:02,090 Speaker 1: Radio technology produced a fundamental ambiguity. The radio aerial would 44 00:04:02,130 --> 00:04:06,930 Speaker 1: identify the shortest line between ship and radio station, but 45 00:04:07,170 --> 00:04:10,530 Speaker 1: it wouldn't show which direction that line ran in. So 46 00:04:10,570 --> 00:04:14,010 Speaker 1: if the line was running north south, that was either 47 00:04:14,050 --> 00:04:17,530 Speaker 1: a bearing of zero or a bearing of one hundred 48 00:04:17,570 --> 00:04:21,130 Speaker 1: and eighty degrees. The ship was either directly north of 49 00:04:21,130 --> 00:04:27,490 Speaker 1: the station or directly south. Often that was obvious, sometimes not. 50 00:04:29,410 --> 00:04:33,730 Speaker 1: At two point fifteen PM, young Lieutenant Lodgett called for 51 00:04:33,810 --> 00:04:39,490 Speaker 1: a bearing from pointe Arguello station. Your maaring is one 52 00:04:40,210 --> 00:04:44,490 Speaker 1: sixty seven degrees. One hundred and sixty seven degrees. That 53 00:04:44,650 --> 00:04:49,650 Speaker 1: was literally impossible. That would mean they'd already passed south 54 00:04:49,770 --> 00:04:52,650 Speaker 1: of Point Arguello, but in fact they were barely even 55 00:04:52,690 --> 00:04:56,290 Speaker 1: halfway there. At the speed they were going, it was 56 00:04:56,330 --> 00:05:00,890 Speaker 1: about twelve hours from San Francisco to Point Arguello. They'd 57 00:05:00,930 --> 00:05:05,570 Speaker 1: only been at sea for six Tell Point Arguello to 58 00:05:05,610 --> 00:05:11,450 Speaker 1: give us the reciprocal bearing, said Captain Hunter. North. Of course, 59 00:05:11,650 --> 00:05:16,130 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter could easily have calculated the reciprocal bearing himself, 60 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:20,290 Speaker 1: so this was a passive aggressive request. He was making 61 00:05:20,330 --> 00:05:24,410 Speaker 1: a point to blodge it. This new fangled radio technology 62 00:05:24,890 --> 00:05:29,090 Speaker 1: can't even tell north from south. No, forget the radio 63 00:05:29,610 --> 00:05:34,050 Speaker 1: best to trust in traditional methods and to the skill 64 00:05:34,210 --> 00:05:40,410 Speaker 1: of perhaps the best navigator in the US Navy. That navigator, 65 00:05:40,730 --> 00:05:45,410 Speaker 1: in the opinion of many sailors, including Captain Hunter, was 66 00:05:45,450 --> 00:05:53,650 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter. I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. 67 00:06:18,370 --> 00:06:22,690 Speaker 1: Sailors would tell stories about Dolly Hunter's prowess as a navigator. 68 00:06:23,370 --> 00:06:28,450 Speaker 1: Once he guided a huge battleship, the USS Idaho, up 69 00:06:28,610 --> 00:06:32,090 Speaker 1: Cook straight and into anchorage in the middle of a 70 00:06:32,130 --> 00:06:35,530 Speaker 1: fog so thick you could have walked on it. He 71 00:06:35,570 --> 00:06:39,570 Speaker 1: hadn't needed radio technology then, and he planned to do 72 00:06:39,650 --> 00:06:44,250 Speaker 1: things the old fashioned way now, steaming down the California 73 00:06:44,330 --> 00:06:49,370 Speaker 1: coastline on the flagship USS Delphi with thirteen other warships 74 00:06:49,410 --> 00:06:55,770 Speaker 1: following his lead. But a lot of the old fashioned 75 00:06:55,770 --> 00:07:00,490 Speaker 1: options weren't available to Captain Hunter. The thickening haze made 76 00:07:00,570 --> 00:07:04,570 Speaker 1: it impossible to take bearings from the sun, nor could 77 00:07:04,610 --> 00:07:08,490 Speaker 1: they mark the lighthouses as they passed them. Pigeon Point, 78 00:07:09,330 --> 00:07:14,770 Speaker 1: sur Point Piedros blancas Point Aguello. Anyone who frequented the 79 00:07:14,810 --> 00:07:19,330 Speaker 1: seas off California would have those names memorized as surely 80 00:07:19,370 --> 00:07:23,450 Speaker 1: as the alphabet. But the lighthouses were little use after 81 00:07:23,530 --> 00:07:27,250 Speaker 1: Pigeon Point they were swallowed up in a coastal fog. 82 00:07:30,370 --> 00:07:34,650 Speaker 1: Another time tested option was to take a sounding, dangling 83 00:07:34,690 --> 00:07:37,330 Speaker 1: a knotted rope from a ship until it dragged on 84 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:40,770 Speaker 1: the bottom, telling them how deep the water was and 85 00:07:40,810 --> 00:07:45,130 Speaker 1: therefore how close they were to land. But that meant 86 00:07:45,210 --> 00:07:48,290 Speaker 1: slowing down, and this was a speed trial. They weren't 87 00:07:48,290 --> 00:07:53,450 Speaker 1: about to slow down, which left just one option. Figure 88 00:07:53,490 --> 00:07:56,690 Speaker 1: out how fast you're going and for how long and 89 00:07:56,770 --> 00:08:01,650 Speaker 1: in what direction, making adjustments for wind and waves and currents. 90 00:08:02,290 --> 00:08:09,970 Speaker 1: The technique of dead reckoning not easy, so young Lieutenant B. 91 00:08:09,970 --> 00:08:13,730 Speaker 1: Loodgett was worried. The sea was rough, with strong currents 92 00:08:13,770 --> 00:08:16,730 Speaker 1: and strong winds that made it hard to be sure 93 00:08:16,890 --> 00:08:22,170 Speaker 1: exactly how fast they were traveling USS Delphi's gyro compass 94 00:08:22,330 --> 00:08:25,210 Speaker 1: wasn't working, which meant that they were relying on the 95 00:08:25,330 --> 00:08:31,610 Speaker 1: less accurate magnetic compass that made their direction finding less precise. 96 00:08:32,770 --> 00:08:37,050 Speaker 1: The Santa Barbara Channel was just twenty three miles wide, 97 00:08:37,890 --> 00:08:41,810 Speaker 1: plenty in broad daylight, but a narrow target if you'd 98 00:08:41,850 --> 00:08:45,810 Speaker 1: been traveling on dead reckoning at about twenty five miles 99 00:08:45,850 --> 00:08:52,410 Speaker 1: an hour from dawn until nightfall turned too early and 100 00:08:52,450 --> 00:08:57,690 Speaker 1: you hit Point Arguello too late, and you smash into 101 00:08:57,890 --> 00:09:04,010 Speaker 1: San Miguel Island. But Captain Hunter wasn't worried. He was 102 00:09:04,050 --> 00:09:07,570 Speaker 1: a master of dead reckoning. It had steered him into 103 00:09:07,610 --> 00:09:11,210 Speaker 1: the fog bound harbor at Anchorage. It would see him 104 00:09:11,210 --> 00:09:15,810 Speaker 1: safely into the Santa Barbara Channel. As the fog thickened 105 00:09:16,250 --> 00:09:20,010 Speaker 1: and the sun began to set, some of the captains 106 00:09:20,050 --> 00:09:23,530 Speaker 1: of the other destroyers started to wonder if it might 107 00:09:23,610 --> 00:09:28,050 Speaker 1: be wise to change plans. Me I like to do 108 00:09:28,130 --> 00:09:32,010 Speaker 1: things the easy way, mused one captain. Hard Head out 109 00:09:32,130 --> 00:09:35,690 Speaker 1: passed San Miguel into the clear. The channel, with all 110 00:09:35,730 --> 00:09:39,090 Speaker 1: its traffic and fishing boats, is sure no place for 111 00:09:39,170 --> 00:09:42,250 Speaker 1: a speed run at night and in a fog, But 112 00:09:42,330 --> 00:09:46,770 Speaker 1: it wasn't up to him commodore. Watson's orders were that 113 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:52,290 Speaker 1: everyone should follow Captain Hunter and the USS Delphi. Some 114 00:09:52,530 --> 00:09:56,370 Speaker 1: fools might run aground on San Miguel Island, but Dolly 115 00:09:56,450 --> 00:10:13,890 Speaker 1: Hunter wasn't one of them. A week earlier, Tokyo had 116 00:10:13,930 --> 00:10:21,410 Speaker 1: been devastated by a catastrophic earthquake. It caused landslides, building collapses, 117 00:10:21,930 --> 00:10:25,490 Speaker 1: widespread fires, and the deaths of more than one hundred 118 00:10:25,610 --> 00:10:30,930 Speaker 1: thousand people, and its effects rippled across the Pacific Ocean, 119 00:10:31,370 --> 00:10:36,410 Speaker 1: setting up unusual currents. Hunter couldn't have known the exact 120 00:10:36,450 --> 00:10:39,610 Speaker 1: effects of the earthquake on the way the very ocean 121 00:10:39,730 --> 00:10:42,690 Speaker 1: under his keel was moving, but he would have known 122 00:10:42,770 --> 00:10:46,530 Speaker 1: that the sea was chopping with huge swells from behind 123 00:10:46,570 --> 00:10:51,450 Speaker 1: the boats, lifting their sterns so high that the propellers 124 00:10:51,650 --> 00:10:55,650 Speaker 1: raced as the screws broached the surface, the hulls of 125 00:10:55,690 --> 00:11:00,050 Speaker 1: the destroyers vibrating as they did that might slow them down. 126 00:11:00,850 --> 00:11:04,770 Speaker 1: And in the churning seas, the ships were yawing left 127 00:11:04,810 --> 00:11:09,130 Speaker 1: and right, left and right, requiring constant corrections from the 128 00:11:08,970 --> 00:11:14,450 Speaker 1: steersmen that might slow them too. And again the wind 129 00:11:14,490 --> 00:11:18,170 Speaker 1: and the sea were behind them, pushing them forward faster. 130 00:11:19,370 --> 00:11:23,650 Speaker 1: The squadron Commander Watson was aboard the flagship USS Delphi 131 00:11:23,970 --> 00:11:28,370 Speaker 1: with Captain Hunter in the vessel's chart room. The two 132 00:11:28,410 --> 00:11:33,770 Speaker 1: men pondered the matter, examining the charts carefully. I feel 133 00:11:33,890 --> 00:11:38,210 Speaker 1: we have two factories in our favor, Watson announced. The 134 00:11:38,330 --> 00:11:41,050 Speaker 1: wind and sea are pushing us along, and we have 135 00:11:41,130 --> 00:11:46,930 Speaker 1: a slight assist from the Japanese current. Captain Hunter agreed, right, sir, 136 00:11:47,290 --> 00:11:49,610 Speaker 1: that will take care of any loss of speed due 137 00:11:49,650 --> 00:11:52,610 Speaker 1: to bad steering or even some racing of the screws. 138 00:11:54,210 --> 00:11:57,250 Speaker 1: So that was that. Then some of the conditions would 139 00:11:57,250 --> 00:12:00,850 Speaker 1: slow them down, others would speed them up. They would 140 00:12:00,850 --> 00:12:04,370 Speaker 1: all come out the same in the end, wouldn't it. 141 00:12:06,170 --> 00:12:17,610 Speaker 1: Cautionary tales will be back after the break. As the 142 00:12:17,650 --> 00:12:23,330 Speaker 1: warships of Destroyer Squadron eleven steamed southward towards Point Arguello, 143 00:12:23,730 --> 00:12:29,810 Speaker 1: all closely following Captain Hunter, news came through on the radio. 144 00:12:30,170 --> 00:12:33,890 Speaker 1: Another US Navy ship not traveling with them had encountered 145 00:12:33,930 --> 00:12:38,130 Speaker 1: lifeboats near the Santa Barbara Channel. They turned out to 146 00:12:38,130 --> 00:12:42,890 Speaker 1: be from a civilian steamer SS Cuba. It had run 147 00:12:42,890 --> 00:12:49,530 Speaker 1: aground in the fog on San Miguel Island. The news 148 00:12:49,530 --> 00:12:53,050 Speaker 1: of the wreck of SS Cuba provoked an argument over 149 00:12:53,090 --> 00:12:57,810 Speaker 1: the radio amongst the leadership of Destroyer Squadron eleven. Commander 150 00:12:57,850 --> 00:13:00,770 Speaker 1: Walter Roper, in charge of one of the warships that 151 00:13:00,890 --> 00:13:05,250 Speaker 1: was following information, requested permission to peel away from the 152 00:13:05,290 --> 00:13:08,490 Speaker 1: others and join in with the rescue of SS Cuba's 153 00:13:08,490 --> 00:13:12,930 Speaker 1: passengers and crew. Commodore Watson wouldn't have any of it, 154 00:13:13,450 --> 00:13:16,970 Speaker 1: absolutely not. There was already one US Navy ship on 155 00:13:17,010 --> 00:13:22,570 Speaker 1: the scene that would be quite sufficient. Roper, a pugnacious character, 156 00:13:22,970 --> 00:13:29,370 Speaker 1: robustly repeated his request. Watson robustly refused. With every other 157 00:13:29,490 --> 00:13:33,450 Speaker 1: captain in the squadron listening in. The two men argued 158 00:13:33,450 --> 00:13:37,810 Speaker 1: for a while before Roper accepted his commanding officer's authority 159 00:13:38,570 --> 00:13:46,010 Speaker 1: and went off to sulk. No such unpleasantness between Captain 160 00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:49,250 Speaker 1: Hunter and Commodore Watson. The two men seemed to be 161 00:13:49,330 --> 00:13:53,610 Speaker 1: in complete agreement, reassuring each other that there was nothing 162 00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:57,610 Speaker 1: really to worry about. Some fools might run aground on 163 00:13:57,730 --> 00:14:02,930 Speaker 1: San Miguel Island like SS Cuba, but Dolly Hunter wasn't 164 00:14:02,930 --> 00:14:07,330 Speaker 1: one of them. Then the most junior man in the 165 00:14:07,410 --> 00:14:11,890 Speaker 1: room piped up. Lieutenant Blodgett reported that he had requested 166 00:14:11,930 --> 00:14:16,330 Speaker 1: another bearing from the radio station at Point Arguello, but 167 00:14:16,370 --> 00:14:18,970 Speaker 1: the fog was so bad that lots of other ships 168 00:14:19,010 --> 00:14:23,810 Speaker 1: were asking for bearings too. The radio station had a backlock, 169 00:14:24,050 --> 00:14:27,090 Speaker 1: so they'd have to wait their turn, and who knows 170 00:14:27,090 --> 00:14:32,530 Speaker 1: how long that might be. Ah, sir, perhaps we should 171 00:14:32,730 --> 00:14:35,690 Speaker 1: stop and take a sound in. We would then know 172 00:14:35,730 --> 00:14:39,010 Speaker 1: with much greater certainty just how far we are from 173 00:14:39,010 --> 00:14:44,130 Speaker 1: the coast. Hunter wasn't a fool. He understood that perfectly well. 174 00:14:44,450 --> 00:14:47,810 Speaker 1: He also understood that would mean stopping the speed trial. 175 00:14:48,570 --> 00:14:51,290 Speaker 1: I can't see that's necessary, and we'd have to break 176 00:14:51,410 --> 00:14:55,690 Speaker 1: radio silence with the other ships and stop this whole parade. 177 00:14:56,010 --> 00:15:01,290 Speaker 1: Hunter then turned to the squadron commander, Commodore Watson. Surely, 178 00:15:01,330 --> 00:15:06,610 Speaker 1: he asked. The Commodore didn't want to stop. No, indeed, not, Well, 179 00:15:06,650 --> 00:15:11,330 Speaker 1: everything is going so well through the fog and the darkness. 180 00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:22,050 Speaker 1: Squadron eleven plunged on. By half past eight that evening. 181 00:15:22,490 --> 00:15:27,170 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter reckoned they were past Point Arguello and steaming 182 00:15:27,370 --> 00:15:32,290 Speaker 1: southeast towards the island of San Miguel. Before long they 183 00:15:32,330 --> 00:15:36,330 Speaker 1: should swing left to the east into the Santa Barbara Channel. 184 00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:41,770 Speaker 1: Best not to leave it too late, then the bearing 185 00:15:41,930 --> 00:15:47,050 Speaker 1: came through from the Point Arguello radio station three hundred 186 00:15:47,170 --> 00:15:53,090 Speaker 1: and thirty degrees. Captain Hunter didn't bother to disguise his 187 00:15:53,330 --> 00:15:58,250 Speaker 1: contempt that amateur radio man at Point Arguello had given 188 00:15:58,290 --> 00:16:01,650 Speaker 1: them the opposite bearing. Again, tell the station that we 189 00:16:01,730 --> 00:16:05,050 Speaker 1: are well south of Point Arguello. They are to give 190 00:16:05,130 --> 00:16:07,970 Speaker 1: us the reciprocal bearing. God, I wish they would get 191 00:16:07,970 --> 00:16:12,850 Speaker 1: these things straight. San Miguel Island must be looming ahead 192 00:16:12,890 --> 00:16:15,370 Speaker 1: by now, and Hunter wasn't about to make the same 193 00:16:15,450 --> 00:16:19,570 Speaker 1: mistake as the unfortunate captain of SS Cuba. It was 194 00:16:19,650 --> 00:16:23,130 Speaker 1: time to make that sharp left turn before they smashed 195 00:16:23,290 --> 00:16:30,130 Speaker 1: straight into it. Uss Delphie sounded two blasts on her 196 00:16:30,170 --> 00:16:38,090 Speaker 1: whistle to signal the turn, then gracefully arcd left in unison. 197 00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:41,450 Speaker 1: The rest of the squadron followed. They were traveling at 198 00:16:41,490 --> 00:16:45,730 Speaker 1: twenty knots, nearly twenty five miles an hour, or eleven 199 00:16:46,090 --> 00:16:51,770 Speaker 1: yards a second, and in close formation. Each ship's prow 200 00:16:52,330 --> 00:16:55,690 Speaker 1: was less than one one hundred and fifty yards behind 201 00:16:55,810 --> 00:16:58,370 Speaker 1: the stern of the ship in front of it, or 202 00:16:58,410 --> 00:17:07,250 Speaker 1: at the pace they were traveling thirteen seconds. The lookout 203 00:17:07,370 --> 00:17:10,930 Speaker 1: for Delphi, and then therefore for the entire column of 204 00:17:11,010 --> 00:17:15,810 Speaker 1: ships was a young sailor named John Morrow. He was 205 00:17:15,850 --> 00:17:19,730 Speaker 1: standing directly in front of the steering wheel, gazing out 206 00:17:19,730 --> 00:17:23,290 Speaker 1: of an open window, feet apart. To keep his balance, 207 00:17:23,850 --> 00:17:27,330 Speaker 1: he strained to see ahead of him, scanning the dark 208 00:17:27,450 --> 00:17:33,170 Speaker 1: waters for signs of danger. The seconds tipped passed with 209 00:17:33,290 --> 00:17:38,690 Speaker 1: each one. Uss Delphi bucked and sliced another eleven yards 210 00:17:38,810 --> 00:17:43,090 Speaker 1: through the rough waves. In fifteen minutes there'd be in 211 00:17:43,170 --> 00:17:47,930 Speaker 1: the karma, more protected waters of the Santa Barbara Channel. 212 00:17:50,250 --> 00:17:54,330 Speaker 1: Captain Hunter, looking back, could see the lights of the 213 00:17:54,370 --> 00:17:58,530 Speaker 1: other ships strung out behind him in a curve. Despite 214 00:17:58,570 --> 00:18:01,170 Speaker 1: the haze, he reckoned, he could still see a mile 215 00:18:01,330 --> 00:18:04,250 Speaker 1: or so to the ships at the back. But then 216 00:18:05,050 --> 00:18:10,650 Speaker 1: suddenly the lights behind Captain Hunter were gone. The fog 217 00:18:10,810 --> 00:18:15,810 Speaker 1: was so thick he could see nothing. Ensign Morrow peered out, 218 00:18:16,490 --> 00:18:21,090 Speaker 1: he also could see nothing. This fog was as thick 219 00:18:21,090 --> 00:18:26,490 Speaker 1: as that time Captain Hunter had guided uss Idaho into Anchorage. 220 00:18:27,210 --> 00:18:32,010 Speaker 1: Pee soup, he said, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't afraid. 221 00:18:33,850 --> 00:18:38,610 Speaker 1: And then the whisper of a gentle rasp against the hull, 222 00:18:39,610 --> 00:18:46,770 Speaker 1: the sound perhaps of Delphi brushing a sandbank, and then 223 00:18:46,890 --> 00:18:51,090 Speaker 1: too quick for anyone to respond. A shuddering sequence of 224 00:18:51,210 --> 00:18:57,450 Speaker 1: crunching bumps, followed by the all engulfing smash of the 225 00:18:57,490 --> 00:19:06,090 Speaker 1: ship hitting solid rock at twenty knots and stopping dead. 226 00:19:06,930 --> 00:19:10,570 Speaker 1: Dolly Hunter, Larry Blodgett, and every other man on the 227 00:19:10,610 --> 00:19:14,370 Speaker 1: bridge was hurled forward at more than twenty miles an hour, 228 00:19:14,610 --> 00:19:19,650 Speaker 1: hitting the unforgiving bulkhead, and slumping to the floor. Hunter 229 00:19:19,810 --> 00:19:24,090 Speaker 1: regained command before he regained his feet, barking out orders, 230 00:19:24,210 --> 00:19:26,930 Speaker 1: stop the engines, switch on the breakdown lights, sound the 231 00:19:27,010 --> 00:19:30,090 Speaker 1: danger signal, four blasts, get down below and forward and 232 00:19:30,130 --> 00:19:37,290 Speaker 1: survey the damage. And then something awful looming out of 233 00:19:37,330 --> 00:19:41,930 Speaker 1: the mist and the darkness was a massive, jagged black 234 00:19:42,010 --> 00:19:48,290 Speaker 1: rock towering over the stricken ship. Oh god, they must 235 00:19:48,330 --> 00:19:54,610 Speaker 1: have hit San Miguel after all, and US Splee was 236 00:19:54,730 --> 00:20:06,570 Speaker 1: thirteen seconds behind them. Sailors on Splee had seen the 237 00:20:06,650 --> 00:20:12,650 Speaker 1: lights on DELFI simply vanish. A few seconds later, sp 238 00:20:12,850 --> 00:20:16,930 Speaker 1: Le plunged into the fog bank, and a few seconds 239 00:20:16,970 --> 00:20:23,770 Speaker 1: after that what Delphi's lights suddenly rushing towards them. The 240 00:20:23,850 --> 00:20:28,730 Speaker 1: captain of sple immediately ordered full speed astern and a 241 00:20:28,770 --> 00:20:34,730 Speaker 1: sharp left turn. The ship wobbled slipped sideways, propellers thrashing 242 00:20:34,770 --> 00:20:37,530 Speaker 1: in full reverse trying to slow the ship as the 243 00:20:37,610 --> 00:20:42,770 Speaker 1: bough swung around from facing east to facing north. Sple 244 00:20:43,410 --> 00:20:47,090 Speaker 1: missed Delphi by a whisker that was then carried by 245 00:20:47,090 --> 00:20:53,050 Speaker 1: its own momentum sideways onto the rocks by those towering cliffs. Stranded, 246 00:20:53,810 --> 00:20:57,850 Speaker 1: sp Le's hull began to rock backwards and forwards on 247 00:20:58,170 --> 00:21:01,690 Speaker 1: sharp blades of rock as the breakers toyed with a 248 00:21:01,770 --> 00:21:08,890 Speaker 1: once proud destroyer, and thirteen seconds behind USS sp Le 249 00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:20,650 Speaker 1: was USS Young. The crew on USS Young had no 250 00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:24,690 Speaker 1: warning of danger, Like a water skier mounting a ramp. 251 00:21:24,970 --> 00:21:27,970 Speaker 1: The ship rose out of the water and plunged back 252 00:21:28,010 --> 00:21:32,730 Speaker 1: again without even slowing down. The hull had been pushed 253 00:21:32,890 --> 00:21:37,170 Speaker 1: up by a submerged reef and sliced open. The ship 254 00:21:37,290 --> 00:21:41,810 Speaker 1: listed to starboard and began to sink. Within seconds, the 255 00:21:41,850 --> 00:21:45,770 Speaker 1: engine room was under fifteen feet of water, and every 256 00:21:45,890 --> 00:21:52,890 Speaker 1: light on USS Young went out. Thirteen seconds behind USS 257 00:21:53,010 --> 00:22:01,530 Speaker 1: Young was USS Woodbury. Perhaps the seeds of the disaster 258 00:22:01,730 --> 00:22:07,170 Speaker 1: had been sown years before in Alaska, when Dolly Hunter 259 00:22:07,290 --> 00:22:12,250 Speaker 1: had guided the huge USS Idaho through a pea soup 260 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:17,730 Speaker 1: fog safely up the cook straight and into anchorage. Perhaps 261 00:22:17,770 --> 00:22:21,410 Speaker 1: it was at that point that his reputation for brilliant 262 00:22:21,490 --> 00:22:25,850 Speaker 1: navigation had been settled, both with his peers and in 263 00:22:25,930 --> 00:22:31,530 Speaker 1: his own increasingly confident opinion. And perhaps as well as 264 00:22:31,570 --> 00:22:37,930 Speaker 1: being skilled, Dolly Hunter had been lucky. The truth is 265 00:22:37,970 --> 00:22:42,010 Speaker 1: that most people who achieve great success have done so 266 00:22:42,170 --> 00:22:47,610 Speaker 1: through a mix of skill, boldness, and good fortune. A 267 00:22:47,690 --> 00:22:52,690 Speaker 1: less skillful navigator might have run uss Idaho aground in 268 00:22:52,770 --> 00:22:56,610 Speaker 1: the Cook Strait, and a more cautious one would never 269 00:22:56,730 --> 00:23:00,210 Speaker 1: have attempted the risky feat in the first place. But 270 00:23:00,290 --> 00:23:03,290 Speaker 1: it's most likely that Dolly Hunter was not only bold 271 00:23:03,490 --> 00:23:08,170 Speaker 1: and skillful, but lucky. And the thing about luck is 272 00:23:08,210 --> 00:23:14,090 Speaker 1: that it doesn't necessarily last. Hunter was unlucky on the 273 00:23:14,130 --> 00:23:18,210 Speaker 1: speed run from San Francisco to San Diego, unlucky with 274 00:23:18,290 --> 00:23:23,290 Speaker 1: the strange currents, unlucky with the broken gyroscopic compass, and 275 00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:27,490 Speaker 1: unlucky with the fog. But none of these pieces of 276 00:23:27,570 --> 00:23:31,690 Speaker 1: bad luck should have surprised him. He knew the seas 277 00:23:31,730 --> 00:23:35,930 Speaker 1: were unsettled, the compass was broken, and the fog was thick, 278 00:23:36,650 --> 00:23:45,890 Speaker 1: and yet he pressed on with his plan. Why. Part 279 00:23:45,930 --> 00:23:49,970 Speaker 1: of the story is that Hunter's own reputation betrayed him. 280 00:23:50,410 --> 00:23:54,530 Speaker 1: The squadron commander Commodore Watson was right there on his 281 00:23:54,650 --> 00:23:57,650 Speaker 1: shoulder and could have ordered him to slow down and 282 00:23:57,730 --> 00:24:03,290 Speaker 1: take soundings. He didn't. It seems that Hunter felt unable 283 00:24:03,330 --> 00:24:06,250 Speaker 1: to abandon the plan for a speed run while Watson 284 00:24:06,330 --> 00:24:10,090 Speaker 1: was watching, and Watson was in or of his own 285 00:24:10,170 --> 00:24:15,090 Speaker 1: subordinate since Hunter had such a brilliant reputation as a navigator, 286 00:24:16,090 --> 00:24:20,570 Speaker 1: Perhaps without realizing it, the two men egged each other on. 287 00:24:21,410 --> 00:24:26,210 Speaker 1: Hunter felt infallible because Watson believed in him, and Watson 288 00:24:26,250 --> 00:24:30,450 Speaker 1: felt infallible because he had Hunter on his team. But 289 00:24:30,490 --> 00:24:35,050 Speaker 1: shouldn't someone else have raised the alarm? Larry Blodgett did, 290 00:24:35,090 --> 00:24:39,050 Speaker 1: but nobody paid attention to a junior navigator. But there 291 00:24:39,090 --> 00:24:44,570 Speaker 1: was another man, a senior officer, who had his doubts. 292 00:24:45,610 --> 00:24:49,650 Speaker 1: That was Commander Walter Roper. Further back in the convoy, 293 00:24:50,450 --> 00:24:54,410 Speaker 1: his navigators had overheard on the radio the last bearing 294 00:24:54,690 --> 00:24:59,290 Speaker 1: given to Captain Hunter, three hundred and thirty degrees, But 295 00:24:59,450 --> 00:25:04,450 Speaker 1: unlike Captain Hunter, they hadn't contemptuously dismissed this bearing as 296 00:25:04,730 --> 00:25:09,810 Speaker 1: obviously wrong. What if it was right, that would mean 297 00:25:10,130 --> 00:25:14,330 Speaker 1: they hadn't yet passed Point Arguello. And if they turned left. 298 00:25:14,370 --> 00:25:18,090 Speaker 1: Now they wouldn't be heading safely into the Santa Barbara Channel. 299 00:25:18,290 --> 00:25:22,450 Speaker 1: They'd be heading straight towards the rocks just north of 300 00:25:22,570 --> 00:25:28,690 Speaker 1: Point Arguello itself. The navigators raised their concerns with Commander Roper. 301 00:25:29,250 --> 00:25:32,890 Speaker 1: He took that warning seriously enough to order his own 302 00:25:33,010 --> 00:25:37,290 Speaker 1: ship to move to a slightly safer course, no longer 303 00:25:37,290 --> 00:25:41,610 Speaker 1: directly behind the flagship. All right, if you're afraid, get 304 00:25:41,610 --> 00:25:46,050 Speaker 1: over to the right. But that was all. Roper didn't 305 00:25:46,050 --> 00:25:49,090 Speaker 1: feel able to share his misgivings with the men on 306 00:25:49,130 --> 00:25:54,850 Speaker 1: the flagship, Hunter and Watson. Why not? We know exactly 307 00:25:54,930 --> 00:25:58,930 Speaker 1: why not, because Watson had shouted him down earlier that 308 00:25:59,130 --> 00:26:03,290 Speaker 1: day on an open radio band with every other ship listing. 309 00:26:04,090 --> 00:26:06,930 Speaker 1: He wasn't going to stick his chin out a second time. 310 00:26:08,170 --> 00:26:14,170 Speaker 1: Hunters are confidence. Watson and Hunter giving each other false reassurance, 311 00:26:14,970 --> 00:26:20,370 Speaker 1: and Roper in a sulk all played their part. But 312 00:26:20,450 --> 00:26:25,690 Speaker 1: there was another reason Dolly Hunter lost his bearings. We'll 313 00:26:25,690 --> 00:26:45,890 Speaker 1: get to that. After the break on the bridge of 314 00:26:46,090 --> 00:26:52,090 Speaker 1: uss Woodbury, the mood was uneasy. They were closely following Delphi, 315 00:26:52,770 --> 00:26:57,970 Speaker 1: Splee and Young, but visibility was terrible, and the lookout 316 00:26:58,050 --> 00:27:01,730 Speaker 1: was worried that he hadn't seen the lighthouse on Point Arguello. 317 00:27:02,850 --> 00:27:07,170 Speaker 1: Then the lookout had a more urgent problem to report, Sir, 318 00:27:07,450 --> 00:27:10,930 Speaker 1: I've lost sight of Delphi. S p. Lee has sheered 319 00:27:10,970 --> 00:27:16,730 Speaker 1: out to port, and Young has stopped. As they looked USS, 320 00:27:16,770 --> 00:27:21,570 Speaker 1: Young's lights blinked out. The ship was one hundred and 321 00:27:21,610 --> 00:27:25,370 Speaker 1: fifty yards ahead, and Woodbury was closing at eleven yards. 322 00:27:25,370 --> 00:27:30,050 Speaker 1: A second Woodbury sheared right to avoid it and instead 323 00:27:30,650 --> 00:27:36,010 Speaker 1: hit that submerged rock behind Woodbury. A hidden rock took 324 00:27:36,050 --> 00:27:41,330 Speaker 1: out the propeller on US S. Nicholas. It wallowed, turned helplessly, 325 00:27:41,730 --> 00:27:45,570 Speaker 1: and wedged tight on yet more of those unforgiving rocks 326 00:27:46,650 --> 00:27:50,890 Speaker 1: behind Nicholas. USS Farragut just managed to slow to a 327 00:27:50,970 --> 00:27:56,410 Speaker 1: halt in time. My God, in all the ground, all 328 00:27:56,570 --> 00:28:05,290 Speaker 1: back emergency. But as Farragut churned backwards, the sudden reversal 329 00:28:05,330 --> 00:28:10,410 Speaker 1: of the engines temporarily robbed the ship's generator of Every 330 00:28:10,530 --> 00:28:15,570 Speaker 1: light on Farragut blinked out, which meant the onrushing USS 331 00:28:15,730 --> 00:28:19,530 Speaker 1: Fuller couldn't see it. Fuller charged out of the fog 332 00:28:19,690 --> 00:28:27,610 Speaker 1: and side swiped Farragut. Still the destroyers kept steaming in. 333 00:28:28,170 --> 00:28:33,090 Speaker 1: USS summers smashed a propeller on a hidden wreath. USS 334 00:28:33,250 --> 00:28:37,570 Speaker 1: Chauncey plowed right into the upturned propeller blades of the 335 00:28:37,610 --> 00:28:42,530 Speaker 1: sinking USS Young. The blades ripped through Chauncey's hull as 336 00:28:42,530 --> 00:28:45,930 Speaker 1: though it were made of tinfoil, slicing open the wall 337 00:28:45,970 --> 00:28:50,810 Speaker 1: of the engine room and promptly cutting all power. Chauncey 338 00:28:51,050 --> 00:28:54,250 Speaker 1: gently drifted onto the rocks and came to rest on 339 00:28:54,330 --> 00:29:02,650 Speaker 1: a ledge post to the cliffs. Then there was USS 340 00:29:03,010 --> 00:29:08,850 Speaker 1: Kennedy under the command of Walter Roper, who remember had 341 00:29:09,090 --> 00:29:12,770 Speaker 1: suspected that Captain Hunter might be lost, and decided to 342 00:29:12,810 --> 00:29:15,370 Speaker 1: move his ship to the right and not to chase 343 00:29:15,450 --> 00:29:20,370 Speaker 1: the convoy too closely. Uss Kennedy and all the ships 344 00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:28,610 Speaker 1: behind steered clear of the rocks without any problem. Two 345 00:29:28,650 --> 00:29:34,250 Speaker 1: ships were badly damaged but mobile, and seven were completely stranded. 346 00:29:35,010 --> 00:29:39,170 Speaker 1: Some of them, like Woodbury, were stuck firmly on the rocks, 347 00:29:39,210 --> 00:29:44,250 Speaker 1: in no immediate danger of sinking. Others, like USS Young, 348 00:29:44,970 --> 00:29:49,810 Speaker 1: were sinking fast. Young had had its belly sliced open 349 00:29:49,850 --> 00:29:52,930 Speaker 1: by a reef. Within half a minute. It was at 350 00:29:52,930 --> 00:29:56,330 Speaker 1: a forty five degree angle. The starboard side of the 351 00:29:56,370 --> 00:30:01,770 Speaker 1: ship was underwater, make for the port side. The orders 352 00:30:01,770 --> 00:30:04,530 Speaker 1: were passed around. Stick with a ship, do not jump. 353 00:30:05,490 --> 00:30:09,010 Speaker 1: One by one, the sailors crawled up onto the upp 354 00:30:09,250 --> 00:30:14,330 Speaker 1: turn side of the doomed ship, a treacherous slippery refuge 355 00:30:14,330 --> 00:30:18,370 Speaker 1: from the waves, well on its way to becoming horizontal. 356 00:30:19,210 --> 00:30:25,130 Speaker 1: They huddled together in the cold and the darkness. Then 357 00:30:25,410 --> 00:30:30,610 Speaker 1: came a light shining from Woodbury. The men looked around. 358 00:30:31,410 --> 00:30:34,570 Speaker 1: They were only now a foot or so above the 359 00:30:34,690 --> 00:30:39,450 Speaker 1: churning water. Breakers were surging over the slippery side of 360 00:30:39,490 --> 00:30:42,330 Speaker 1: the ship, and it was just a matter of time 361 00:30:42,730 --> 00:30:54,170 Speaker 1: before they were swept into the foe. The psychologist Gary 362 00:30:54,250 --> 00:30:57,970 Speaker 1: Klein tells a story about a time his wife complained 363 00:30:58,210 --> 00:31:02,530 Speaker 1: that her front door key was sticking. My key works fine, 364 00:31:02,930 --> 00:31:07,370 Speaker 1: Gary said, your key must be bad. So Gary Kleine 365 00:31:07,530 --> 00:31:09,970 Speaker 1: went to the hardware store to cut a copy of 366 00:31:09,970 --> 00:31:15,570 Speaker 1: his key. Hmm, the copy got stuck too. The key 367 00:31:15,570 --> 00:31:19,090 Speaker 1: cutting machine must be faulty. Klein went to a different 368 00:31:19,130 --> 00:31:26,570 Speaker 1: store and cut a second copy. Hmm, that got stuck too. Finally, 369 00:31:27,290 --> 00:31:33,250 Speaker 1: he tried his own key and actually paid attention. Funny thing, 370 00:31:34,410 --> 00:31:38,730 Speaker 1: it was pretty sticky too. It failed to notice how 371 00:31:38,770 --> 00:31:42,890 Speaker 1: the lock had slowly become more fussy, and that he'd 372 00:31:43,010 --> 00:31:47,770 Speaker 1: adapted to that fussiness over time, shrugging it off. Now 373 00:31:47,810 --> 00:31:50,930 Speaker 1: they had four keys, and all of them tended to stick. 374 00:31:52,010 --> 00:31:56,410 Speaker 1: Gary Klein got some lubricant, oiled the lock, and found 375 00:31:56,490 --> 00:32:04,850 Speaker 1: that all four keys now worked fine. It's a trivial 376 00:32:04,890 --> 00:32:09,050 Speaker 1: little illustration of an idea Cline calls a garden part 377 00:32:09,490 --> 00:32:13,570 Speaker 1: thinking in the old idiom, when you fool somebody, you 378 00:32:13,690 --> 00:32:18,050 Speaker 1: lead them down the garden path. But Gary Kleine led 379 00:32:18,130 --> 00:32:22,610 Speaker 1: himself down the garden path. He began by overlooking something, 380 00:32:23,170 --> 00:32:27,170 Speaker 1: the fact that his own key was also sticky. Then 381 00:32:27,250 --> 00:32:31,690 Speaker 1: from a faulty premise, he went further and further along 382 00:32:31,770 --> 00:32:37,290 Speaker 1: the wrong course of action. Captain Donald Dolly Hunter, one 383 00:32:37,290 --> 00:32:41,170 Speaker 1: of the finest navigators in the US Navy, led himself 384 00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:44,890 Speaker 1: down the garden path, too, which is how he also 385 00:32:45,050 --> 00:32:50,690 Speaker 1: led nine destroyers onto the rocks. First, there'd been that 386 00:32:50,890 --> 00:32:54,250 Speaker 1: bearing from the radio station that was obviously back to front, 387 00:32:54,810 --> 00:32:57,530 Speaker 1: the one that had put them south of Point Arguello 388 00:32:57,850 --> 00:33:01,770 Speaker 1: when there'd been six hours north. Just as Gary Klein 389 00:33:01,970 --> 00:33:05,610 Speaker 1: fixated on the thought that the keys were bad, Hunter 390 00:33:05,770 --> 00:33:09,770 Speaker 1: got it into his head that the radio bearings were backwards. 391 00:33:10,730 --> 00:33:13,730 Speaker 1: When the next bearing told him he was still north 392 00:33:13,770 --> 00:33:17,890 Speaker 1: of Point Arguello. He took it as confirming his view 393 00:33:17,930 --> 00:33:21,890 Speaker 1: that he was actually south. Then there was his fixation 394 00:33:22,050 --> 00:33:26,210 Speaker 1: on not going too far south. The news of SS 395 00:33:26,330 --> 00:33:29,450 Speaker 1: Cuba having run aground on the island of San Miguel 396 00:33:30,050 --> 00:33:34,210 Speaker 1: reinforced that particular risk in Hunter's mind, the risk of 397 00:33:34,250 --> 00:33:37,770 Speaker 1: waiting too long before turning into the channel and hitting 398 00:33:37,810 --> 00:33:41,530 Speaker 1: the island. Just as it didn't occur to Gary Klein 399 00:33:42,090 --> 00:33:45,290 Speaker 1: that the locke might be the problem, it didn't occur 400 00:33:45,370 --> 00:33:49,090 Speaker 1: to Captain Hunter that he might be turning too early 401 00:33:49,810 --> 00:34:00,570 Speaker 1: and smashing straight into the mainland instead. In the light 402 00:34:00,730 --> 00:34:05,170 Speaker 1: being shone from USS Woodbury, one of the sailors stranded 403 00:34:05,210 --> 00:34:10,090 Speaker 1: on the slippery side of USS Young found a fire axe. 404 00:34:10,290 --> 00:34:15,650 Speaker 1: Officer Arthur Pete. Peterson crawled along the slippery side of 405 00:34:15,690 --> 00:34:20,290 Speaker 1: the ship, using the axe to smash out the thick 406 00:34:20,370 --> 00:34:23,730 Speaker 1: glass of the portholes one by one. His idea was 407 00:34:23,810 --> 00:34:27,410 Speaker 1: to provide handholes, and the other sailors didn't need that 408 00:34:27,570 --> 00:34:30,570 Speaker 1: spelling out to them. They scrambled to grab netting that 409 00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:34,170 Speaker 1: could be strung between them and the portholes to give 410 00:34:34,210 --> 00:34:38,650 Speaker 1: them some purchase on their treacherous platform. The Young wasn't 411 00:34:38,650 --> 00:34:41,610 Speaker 1: the only ship that was sinking, and the calamity was 412 00:34:41,650 --> 00:34:46,050 Speaker 1: about to reach its final act. The desperate attempt to 413 00:34:46,050 --> 00:34:49,610 Speaker 1: get as many sailors as possible off their stricken ships 414 00:34:50,130 --> 00:34:56,010 Speaker 1: and on to dry land. It was dark and foggy. 415 00:34:57,010 --> 00:34:59,610 Speaker 1: Many of the men were barefoot, having been thrown out 416 00:34:59,610 --> 00:35:03,330 Speaker 1: of their bunks by the force of the impacts. The 417 00:35:03,410 --> 00:35:07,450 Speaker 1: sea was churning violently and was thick with leaking oil. 418 00:35:08,090 --> 00:35:13,450 Speaker 1: The volcanic rock themselves were sharp enough to slice flesh. 419 00:35:13,970 --> 00:35:18,210 Speaker 1: Some of the acts of heroism that night defy belief, 420 00:35:19,010 --> 00:35:22,610 Speaker 1: with men diving into the foaming sea or braving the 421 00:35:22,690 --> 00:35:26,290 Speaker 1: rocks in tiny lifeboats, all in the hope of carrying 422 00:35:26,410 --> 00:35:29,690 Speaker 1: lines from their sinking ships to the safety of the shore, 423 00:35:30,210 --> 00:35:33,490 Speaker 1: or pulling their friends, unconscious and covered with oil, out 424 00:35:33,570 --> 00:35:37,690 Speaker 1: of the foam and carefully carrying them over the rocky blades. 425 00:35:39,770 --> 00:35:44,490 Speaker 1: Over the hours that followed, eight hundred men helped each 426 00:35:44,530 --> 00:35:49,170 Speaker 1: other off the ships into lifeboats, or hand over hand 427 00:35:49,170 --> 00:35:53,210 Speaker 1: along ropes and up the cruel rocks of the cliffs, 428 00:35:53,810 --> 00:35:57,210 Speaker 1: feeling out a pathway in the darkness until they reached 429 00:35:57,490 --> 00:36:11,210 Speaker 1: the flat cliff top. It was only in the morning 430 00:36:11,450 --> 00:36:15,170 Speaker 1: that they could take a roll call twenty three men 431 00:36:15,570 --> 00:36:20,850 Speaker 1: were missing and would later be declared dead. Two hundred 432 00:36:20,890 --> 00:36:25,610 Speaker 1: more were seriously injured, burned, or cruelly cut by the rocks, 433 00:36:26,610 --> 00:36:28,890 Speaker 1: And it was only in the morning that the survivors 434 00:36:28,890 --> 00:36:32,570 Speaker 1: could see how narrow was the pathway to safety that 435 00:36:32,730 --> 00:36:36,490 Speaker 1: many had walked in the darkness, a natural arch of 436 00:36:36,610 --> 00:36:40,570 Speaker 1: rock leading to that flat cliff top just three feet 437 00:36:40,650 --> 00:36:45,130 Speaker 1: wide and thirty yards down into the churning surf below. 438 00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:50,330 Speaker 1: They hadn't realized that one false step would have been fatal. 439 00:36:56,130 --> 00:36:59,210 Speaker 1: The death toll would surely have been worth were it 440 00:36:59,290 --> 00:37:04,730 Speaker 1: not for one stroke of luck. The drifting uss Chauncey 441 00:37:05,330 --> 00:37:09,610 Speaker 1: finally came to rest just twenty five yards away from 442 00:37:09,650 --> 00:37:16,010 Speaker 1: the stricken USS Young. For the sailors clinging onto nets 443 00:37:16,010 --> 00:37:19,810 Speaker 1: and portholes on the slippery side of Young, this meant 444 00:37:20,090 --> 00:37:24,090 Speaker 1: a hope of rescue. The crew of Chauncey could lower 445 00:37:24,090 --> 00:37:28,330 Speaker 1: them a rope. One sailor began to sing, and as 446 00:37:28,370 --> 00:37:32,730 Speaker 1: the waves broke around them, the whole surviving crew of 447 00:37:32,850 --> 00:37:37,290 Speaker 1: Young joined in for the tune of yes, we have 448 00:37:37,410 --> 00:37:42,010 Speaker 1: no bananas. They sang as one, oh, yes we have 449 00:37:42,170 --> 00:37:49,610 Speaker 1: no destroyers. We have no destroyers today. As for Captain Hunter. 450 00:37:50,370 --> 00:37:55,050 Speaker 1: It was another sound that made the Master Navigator realize 451 00:37:55,170 --> 00:38:00,970 Speaker 1: finally where he was. As he stood shivering on the shore, 452 00:38:01,810 --> 00:38:06,490 Speaker 1: he heard the whistle of a train. There are no 453 00:38:06,650 --> 00:38:10,490 Speaker 1: trains on San Miguel Island, but there is a track 454 00:38:10,970 --> 00:38:24,330 Speaker 1: running right past the radio station at Point Arguelmo. Detailed 455 00:38:24,370 --> 00:38:28,490 Speaker 1: source on the disaster is Tragedy at Honda by Admiral 456 00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:33,090 Speaker 1: Charles Lockwood and H. C. Adamson. For a full list 457 00:38:33,090 --> 00:38:41,610 Speaker 1: of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford dot com. 458 00:38:41,650 --> 00:38:45,210 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, 459 00:38:45,410 --> 00:38:49,130 Speaker 1: Alice Fines, and Ryan Dilly. It's produced by Alice Fines 460 00:38:49,170 --> 00:38:52,890 Speaker 1: and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are 461 00:38:52,890 --> 00:38:56,450 Speaker 1: the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound design is by 462 00:38:56,530 --> 00:39:01,290 Speaker 1: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio. Bend A Dapfhaffrey edited 463 00:39:01,290 --> 00:39:05,650 Speaker 1: the scripts. The show features the voice talents of Melanie Guttridge, 464 00:39:05,770 --> 00:39:09,650 Speaker 1: Stella Harford, Oliver Hember, Sarah jupp, A m and Roe, 465 00:39:10,010 --> 00:39:14,010 Speaker 1: Jamal Westman, and Rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have 466 00:39:14,010 --> 00:39:17,290 Speaker 1: been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, 467 00:39:17,730 --> 00:39:22,530 Speaker 1: Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey 468 00:39:22,730 --> 00:39:27,970 Speaker 1: and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 469 00:39:28,090 --> 00:39:32,370 Speaker 1: It's recorded at Wardoor Studios in London by Tom Berry. 470 00:39:32,850 --> 00:39:35,650 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate 471 00:39:35,890 --> 00:39:38,050 Speaker 1: and review. It really makes a difference to us and 472 00:39:38,090 --> 00:39:40,770 Speaker 1: if you want to hear the show, add free sign 473 00:39:40,850 --> 00:39:43,450 Speaker 1: up to Pushkin Plus on the show page, on Apple 474 00:39:43,450 --> 00:40:01,450 Speaker 1: Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus