USS Delphy
We are proud to offer this nicely crafted example of a military ship with a story.  The “Delphy” was built by Christopher N. Hitchcock, the second son to join his highly esteemed father, William, in the model-making business, Christopher signed on in 2001 as a full-time collaborator in his father’s studio, contributing military experience, and skills learned in his ten years as a combat photographer in the Marine Corps. Sadly, Christopher died in 2006 at the young age of 40.

The tale of “Delphy” and the Honda Point Disaster is a famous peacetime military tragedy.   On September 8, 1923, fourteen Clemson Class destroyers of Destroyer Squadron Eleven departed San Francisco Bay with “Delphy” as flagship, bound for San Diego. Somehow off course and enveloped in heavy fog, at Point Honda (now Vandenberg Air Force Base) seven ran aground, and 23 lives were lost.