100 years ago, on September 8th 1923, the largest peacetime disaster of the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor occurred just up the California coast from Santa Barbara, north of Point Conception, at a place known locally as Honda Point. To mariners, this area has been known as “The Graveyard of the Pacific” and to 16th century Spanish explorers it was known as “La Quijada del Diablo”…. the Devil’s Jaw.
On a cold moonless night, in thick coastal fog, the 14 new ships of Destroyer Squadron 11 sailing at a record pace from San Francisco to San Diego under radio silence and in close formation, turned hard East into the Santa Barbara Channel – or so they thought. Seven destroyers, and 23 sailors were lost to the jagged shore. Was it human hubris? Natural phenomenon? Foreboding omens? Lee Abbott share’s their story in the film Disaster at Devil’s Jaw.
Producer, director, cinematographer, editor, writer, and food network chef, Lee Abbott is a seventh generation Californian and Santa Barbara native, whose grandmother, and great grandfather helped in the Honda Disaster rescue efforts. His uncle also made several SCUBA dives on the wreckage in the 1970s. World War II Veteran Bill Mors, who was the benefactor of this film, also made several dives of the wrecks. Bill unfortunately passed before the film’s completion, but Lee is honored to be the one to share his legacy with the world, and a portion of the proceeds is going to The Gold Coast Veteran’s Foundation in Bill’s name.
In addition to Disaster at Devil’s Jaw, Abbott’s work has ranged from producing live on the Red Carpet at the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, etc. to shooting in Borneo drinking Rice Moonshine with the Iban tribe of headhunters. He is also a former pro water skier which he turned into his first show, “Shreddin’ H2O,” on ESPN. He has directed makeover reality shows, commercials, music videos, as well as comedy film and tv, plus food and wine TV, and a speedy gourmet original recipe series that passed the 6 million views mark on social media, . In a different vein, he was once Captain America in a Visa Super Bowl Commercial, and his children’s favorite effort was his doing all the voiceovers for the Dr. Seuss App for “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” Yes, even Cindy Lou Who!
