Edward Howe Watson was a career United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 officer, who led a squadron of destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s aground off Point Honda

Honda Point Disaster

The Honda Point Disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. On the evening of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers, while traveling at 20 knots , ran aground at Honda Point, a few miles from the northern side of the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello on the coast in Santa...

 on the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 coast in 1923.

Early life and marriage

Watson was born in Frankfort

Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, a son of Commander John Crittendon Watson, USN.

Watson married Hermine Cary Gratz who came from a family of five siblings, including a half sister, Helen, who married Godfrey Rockefeller

William Goodsell Rockefeller

William Goodsell Rockefeller was a director of the Consolidated Textile Company.-Biography:He was the third child of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller and his wife, Almira Geraldine Goodsell...

 of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Academy and early career

Watson graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1895 and served on several ships during the rest of the decade, including Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

 service on board the cruiser Detroit

USS Detroit

USS Detroit may refer to:, a 12-gun ship, was captured from the British during the Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813*Detroit, a screw steamer, was laid down at the New York Navy Yard in 1865 but canceled in 1866 and broken up on the stocks...

. He commanded the storeship Celtic in 1912-13, then attended the Naval War College

Naval War College

The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...

. Watson also saw duty as Executive Officer

Executive officer

An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...

 of the battleship Utah and as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Wheeling

USS Wheeling

USS Wheeling is a name used more than once by the U.S. Navy:, laid down on 11 April 1896 at San Francisco, California, by the Union Iron Works....

.

World War I

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Watson was in command of the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 Alabama

USS Alabama (BB-8)

USS Alabama was an pre-dreadnought style battleship in the United States Navy. She was the second ship to carry her name.Alabama was laid down on 1 December 1896 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by the William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company. She was launched on 18 May 1898...

, receiving the Navy Cross

Navy Cross

The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...

. In March 1919, he became U.S. Naval Attaché

Attaché

Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, remaining in that post until May 1922. In July of that year, he took command of Destroyer Squadron 11, based on the West Coast.

Honda Point disaster

On September 8, 1923, dead reckoning navigation errors on his flagship resulted in the loss of seven of the squadron's destroyers through stranding on the rocky coast at Honda Point, California. This was known as the Honda Point Disaster

Honda Point Disaster

The Honda Point Disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. On the evening of September 8, 1923, seven destroyers, while traveling at 20 knots , ran aground at Honda Point, a few miles from the northern side of the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello on the coast in Santa...

 and Watson was court martialed for his leadership in the event. An editorial in the Army and Navy Journal read in part "... Captain Watson has given a splendid example of the finest attributes of character overcoming the elemental instinct of self-preservation. Voluntarily waiving the fundamental right of a defendant to place the burden of proof upon the prosecution, and to refrain from testifying under oath to any facts that might tend to incriminate himself, he took the witness stand and not only freely testified to facts relating to his own culpability but also volunteered his opinion under oath that he was wholly responsible for the disaster, and that none of his subordinates should be blamed." The book itself shows this was an act of outstanding honor and leadership; that in fact the causes of the tragedy lay in new technology, fog and a series of small errors resulting in the fleet not being where its navigators believed it should be; but given the tradition of chain of command, the man at the top took responsibility.

Post-Honda Point career and retirement

Subsequent to the Honda Point disaster, Watson was assigned to duty as Assistant Commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District, in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, remaining there until he left active duty in November 1929. He retired to New York City where he was in the New York Social Register

Social Register

Specific to the United States, the Social Register is a directory of names and addresses of prominent American families who form the social elite, . The "Directory" automatically includes the President of the United States and the First Family, and in the past always included the U.S. Senators and...

 and he and his family spent their summers on Walcott Avenue in Jamestown, Rhode Island

Jamestown, Rhode Island

Jamestown is a town located in Newport County, Rhode Island, in the United States. The population was 5,405 at the 2010 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay.-History:...

 where he was a member of the Connanicut Yacht Club.