USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on fire

[IrishWind]

It's all over my facebook feeds. Lots of smoke and reports of an explosion after the fire started. No fatalities reported, which is good. But the navy really doesn't need this right now.

Sailors injured after fire erupts on military ship in San Diego

Authorities were working to put out a fire of unreported cause on the USS Bonhomme Richard.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Godspeed; Bravo Hotel Romeo...

Updated report:
https://news.usni.org/2020/07/12/br...losions-reported-in-uss-bonhomme-richard-fire

I am immensely proud to have taken up the Navy Department's invitation in 2001 to my Wife, Celia and I; as an honored guests to attend the christening ceremonies alongside LHD-7 Iwo Jima. As with all portentious weddings and other beginnings, we got rained on. Rained on our wedding, too; 12 days and counting to 50yrs.

In 1966, while serving detached duty as Embarkation Crew aboard APA-220 USS Okanoggan in San Diego, we were tied up down the pier from LPH-2 Iwo Jima, LHD-7's namesake.

Small world, getting smaller.

 

[Det. John McClane]

Any word on the cause yet?

 

[Greg Langelius *]

"Maintenance availability"; normal practices get bent. Me just prognostericatin'...

Whatever else happens; the Captain will probably get to standing tall...

That's Marine-Speak for sh1+ flows both ways.

 

[IrishWind]

All I've seen is speculation.

And some one quoting Adm Kuzetsov (Russia's only carrier) saying "On fire? First time?"

 

[308pirate]

Any word on the cause yet?

Being that the ship is undergoing a refit, my best professional guess is hot work (welding/cutting) gone really wrong.

 

[MarinePMI]

Being that the ship is undergoing a refit, my best professional guess is hot work (welding/cutting) gone really wrong.

This^^^^

Hot work is just begging for a fire...

 

[Maggot]

It's all over my facebook feeds. Lots of smoke and reports of an explosion after the fire started. No fatalities reported, which is good. But the navy really doesn't need this right now.

Sailors injured after fire erupts on military ship in San Diego

Authorities were working to put out a fire of unreported cause on the USS Bonhomme Richard.

www.yahoo.com

[She has quite the legacy.


USS Bonhomme Richard (1765) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(1...

Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a warship in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Joneson 4 February 1779, ...
Draft‎: ‎19 ft (5.8 m)
Armament‎: ‎: 28 × 12-pound smoothbore; 6 × 1...
Fate‎: ‎Sunk by HMS Serapis
Acquired‎: ‎4 February 1779

 

[BullGear]

Any word on the cause yet?

A L I E N S

 

[sirhrmechanic]

[She has quite the legacy.


USS Bonhomme Richard (1765) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(1...

Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a warship in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Joneson 4 February 1779, ...
Draft‎: ‎19 ft (5.8 m)
Armament‎: ‎: 28 × 12-pound smoothbore; 6 × 1...
Fate‎: ‎Sunk by HMS Serapis
Acquired‎: ‎4 February 1779

One of the most famous names in the Navy... Cinstitution, Enterprise, Bon Homme Richard, Monitor....

Legacy indeed.

Sirhr

 

[Maggot]

Godspeed; Bonnie Dick...

Updated report:
https://news.usni.org/2020/07/12/br...losions-reported-in-uss-bonhomme-richard-fire

I am immensely proud to have taken up the Navy Department's invitation in 2001 to my Wife, Celia and I; as an honored guests to attend the christening ceremonies alongside LHD-7 Iwo Jima. As with all portentious weddings and other beginnings, we got rained on. Rained on our wedding, too; 12 days and counting to 50yrs.

In 1966, while serving detached duty as Embarkation Crew aboard APA-220 USS Okanoggan in San Diego, we were tied up down the pier from LPH-2 Iwo Jima, LHD-7's namesake.

Small world, getting smaller.

Let me be the first to say, if a bit early:

 

[Maggot]

One of the most famous names in the Navy... Cinstitution, Enterprise, Bon Homme Richard, Monitor....

Legacy indeed.

Sirhr

And what we need to tell the Chink government:

"I have not yet begun to fight."

 

[308pirate]

[She has quite the legacy.


USS Bonhomme Richard (1765) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(1...

Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a warship in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Joneson 4 February 1779, ...
Draft‎: ‎19 ft (5.8 m)
Armament‎: ‎: 28 × 12-pound smoothbore; 6 × 1...
Fate‎: ‎Sunk by HMS Serapis
Acquired‎: ‎4 February 1779

And speaking of John Paul Jones............

 

[dspjaggar]

Deployed on that thing 7? Ish years ago. Glad this was in port and not at sea.

 

[308pirate]

Glad this was in port and not at sea.

The only thing that sucks worse that fire at sea is fire under the sea........

 

[308pirate]

"Maintenance availability"; normal practices get bent.

A maintenance availability is not a normal period. Many systems are in abnormal conditions for maintenance. It's an extremely complicated environment where even the best can sometimes lose track of what's going on and make a mistake.

To be certain, it's not an excuse. Just an explanation.

I've been through one and it's no joke. I've also had to stand tall in front of the man (Reactor Officer, a Navy Captain) for a mistake I made as reactor duty officer in port during maintenance. After about 30 hours without sleep, while authorizing tagouts, I missed one mistake in a shipyard-managed piping lineup and signed off on it, violating safety rules regarding dual isolation between men and the hazard.

 

[MarinePMI]

A maintenance availability is not a normal period. Many systems are in abnormal conditions for maintenance. It's an extremely complicated environment where even the best can sometimes lose track of what's going on and make a mistake.

To be certain, it's not an excuse. Just an explanation.

I've been through one and it's no joke. I've also had to stand tall in front of the man (Reactor Officer, a Navy Captain) for a mistake I made as reactor duty officer in port during maintenance. After about 30 hours without sleep, while authorizing tagouts, I missed one mistake in a shipyard-managed piping lineup and signed off on it, violating safety rules regarding dual isolation between men and the hazard.

Hmmm...wondering if that’s an incident I’ve heard of. My twin brother was a nuke...

 

[308pirate]

Hmmm...wondering if that’s an incident I’ve heard of. My twin brother was a nuke...

I'm likely not the only one who's done that

Which ships did he serve in and when?

 

[MarinePMI]

I'm likely not the only one who's done that

Which ships did he serve in and when?

The Rickover, somewhere around 90-94.

 

[308pirate]

The Rickover, somewhere around 90-94.

Same timeframe but I wasn't a submariner.

 

[army_eod]

Is it odd that the fire is still not extinguished?

 

[pmclaine]

Lets hope it wasnt something this dumb.....

USS Miami (SSN-755) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A Boomer 100% loss for some skank love.

Shortly after the fire I met one of the crew. He came to Devens to shoot with the rifle club. Lost his home so to speak in that fire.

 

[Det. John McClane]

This is why I joined the Army instead of the Navy (although I came close to joining the Navy). I never wanted to be stuck in a situation I could run away from with some covering fire.

The report I read this morning said some sort of internal explosion occurred earlier in the day, but they cannot ascertain the cause. Around 21 sailors taken to the hospital and 5 are still hospitalized.

 

[Xcount]

Is it odd that the fire is still not extinguished?

Its not odd that this is still going. that is why fire PREVENTION is a major emphasis on ships. Once the fire gets into the cable ways and ventilation systems it smolders and can spread unpredictably.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Fishy...? I suspect not, with only 160 personnel out of a 1000 complement aboard. One wonders how many contractors were on board.

During APA Embarkation Crew Duty; loading on all manner of supplies, demolition materials, and heavy equipment/trucks for a reinforced (2600 men) Engineer Bn.; we were interrupted to turn out for fire simulations several times a day. BTW, our ship was part of a three ship convoy, rounded out by a pair of LSD's, LSD-3 Cabildo and LSD-16 Carter Hall.

Carrier fires, with their additional POL and Ordnance are usually like dumpster fires.

Ask McCain...; Oh, wait...

 

[Xcount]

Learn or Burn.

 

[308pirate]

Is it odd that the fire is still not extinguished?

There are three stages of firefighting in the Navy. Fire is under control. Fire is out. Fire is overhauled. It's very unlikely the press doesn't understand the differences. They may still be fighting small fires. They may be overhauling it. I don't know what space this happened in, so who knows what kind of materials were involved.

 

[308pirate]

Lets hope it wasnt something this dumb.....

USS Miami (SSN-755) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A Boomer 100% loss for some skank love.

Shortly after the fire I met one of the crew. He came to Devens to shoot with the rifle club. Lost his home so to speak in that fire.

SSN or SSGN = Not a boomer

SSBN = Boomer

 

[pmclaine]

SSN or SSGN = Not a boomer

SSBN = Boomer

Are they all long, hard and skinny while filled with Seamen?

 

[308pirate]

Are they all long, hard and skinny while filled with Seamen?

Some are longer than others, but yes.

 

[IrishWind]

Not looking good. One video I saw this morning showed one of the radar masts collapsed. And one report says the bridge burned overnight.

And thank you California. Your local NBC station is concerned about the worse air quality because of the fire.

 

[308pirate]

Not looking good. One video I saw this morning showed one of the radar masts collapsed. And one report says the bridge burned overnight.

And thank you California. Your local NBC station is concerned about the worse air quality because of the fire.

Holy shit, this is from yesterday evening near sunset.

It seems to me there are two fires, one burning somewhere forward on the O3 level (the deck immediately below the flight deck) and the one near the bridge. What a shit sandwich......

Navy 'Doing Everything They Can' to Save the Still-Burning Bonhomme Richard

Naval firefighters are "doing everything they can" to save the ship, which has sustained considerable damage since the fire erupted on the lower decks.

timesofsandiego.com

 

[Foul Mike]

If this ship was in for a re-fit/repair I wonder if it was Navy personnel or the contractors doing the work that will be held responsible for this?

If I take my truck in for an engine re-build, once turned over to that shop, it is their baby, who am I to question what is being done? I hired them to do this job and as long as they get it done correctly as to my specifications who am I to question how it was done?

I foresee that ship becoming a sunken, off-shore artificial reef, target practice for guns and torpedoes. and the taxpayers lose big time.

 

[BullGear]

If the fire/explosion was an act of terrorism, do you think the Navy would ever announce it as terrorism?

 

[FjallJager]

If this ship was in for a re-fit/repair I wonder if it was Navy personnel or the contractors doing the work that will be held responsible for this?

If I take my truck in for an engine re-build, once turned over to that shop, it is their baby, who am I to question what is being done? I hired them to do this job and as long as they get it done correctly as to my specifications who am I to question how it was done?

I foresee that ship becoming a sunken, off-shore artificial reef, target practice for guns and torpedoes. and the taxpayers lose big time.

Doubtful.

20 years in the Navy, saw screw ups that ruined careers (but they still retired).

Ass chewing tops!

 

[7.62willdo]

Gonna be a new reef soon!

 

[308pirate]

I foresee that ship becoming a sunken, off-shore artificial reef, target practice for guns and torpedoes. and the taxpayers lose big time.

I doubt it. We've saved ships with far greater damage than that.

USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

USS Stark - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Greg Langelius *]

$1,600,000.00+ Investment?

Nope, we will rebuild(!)...; new management.

 

[IrishWind]

Stark and Sammy B we had good reason to fix and get back out. To show those that hurt us that we're willing to take what they dish out, brush ourselves off, and get back out doing what we do best. Their attacks are annoying pinpricks compared to what we can do back at them. LSD-6 is an older ship, and if it is cheaper to replace than repair, it might be smarter to go that route.

 

[308pirate]

LSD-6 LHD-6 is an older ship, and if it is cheaper to replace than repair, it might be smarter to go that route.

It's 22 years old. That's likely half of its service life. I think it's too soon to speculate if the damage will be fatal.

Keep in mind, she's a big % of our expeditionary strike group capability. Replacing her will be at least a 5 year progress.

 

[BytorJr]

I just read where the front island has melted!!!!

That they think it was lax fire watch (probably facebooking or tweeting). Shocking how many of the USN boats have caught on fire the last 10 years. Some serious issues going on in our Navy. Enough to where there probably needs to be a massive clearinghouse of the top admirals - from the layman's eyes anyway. My understanding is this boat had just had a 200+ million dollar refit as part of our ongoing issues with China.

My guess is that this is going to be making a trip to big scrapyard in India.

Seems like this lax fire watch shit is what happened to Notre Dame as well. The Navy should know better - period.

 

[hic28]

I’m 35 miles north and the stink of melted plastic woke me up around 2am.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

LHD-6 Official site. No reports there yet, first things come first.

 

[BytorJr]

Reports now that the fire system was inoperable. Halon system turned off due to refitting and ongoing maintenance.

As a taxpayer if any of these reports of lax fire guard and not doubling up on diligence when the damn halon system was turned off I'm going to be really pissed off.

 

[308pirate]

Reports now that the fire system was inoperable. Halon system turned off due to refitting and ongoing maintenance.

As a taxpayer if any of these reports of lax fire guard and not doubling up on diligence when the damn halon system was turned off I'm going to be really pissed off.

How about we wait for the truth............

Source for your reports? "Fire system was inoperable"? I can assure you that there are multiple, redundant fire suppression systems throughout the ship and they are different depending on the space they're guarding. I can also assure you that no fire suppression system is taken out of service completely throughout the ship without backup. The firemain system has multiple ways to be rigged so that battle damage or maintenance isolation can be done without depriving the rest of the ship of water. And those spaces where firemain is cut off get pressurized hoses terminating in Y or Tree hydrants where additional hoses can be connected to.

Sounds like they don't know shit from shinola about how systems are configured during maintenance and overhaul.

I also think that most don't have a concept of how difficult it is to fight a shipboard fire. I never had to do it for real but the firefighting training I got a Surface Warfare Officer school was an eye opener

 

[308pirate]

Looks like the fire is starting to come under control

 

[BytorJr]

How about we wait for the truth............

Source for your reports? "Fire system was inoperable"? I can assure you that there are multiple, redundant fire suppression systems throughout the ship and they are different depending on the space they're guarding. I can also assure you that no fire suppression system is taken out of service completely throughout the ship without backup. The firemain system has multiple ways to be rigged so that battle damage or maintenance isolation can be done without depriving the rest of the ship of water. And those spaces where firemain is cut off get pressurized hoses terminating in Y or Tree hydrants where additional hoses can be connected to.

Sounds like they don't know shit from shinola about how systems are configured during maintenance and overhaul.

I also think that most don't have a concept of how difficult it is to fight a shipboard fire. I never had to do it for real but the firefighting training I got a Surface Warfare Officer school was an eye opener

Fire suppression system inoperable when blaze erupted aboard Navy ship in San Diego

Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck said the Halon gas system had been turned off because it was being worked on while the amphibious assault ship was undergoing maintenance work.

www.adn.com

All link to the same Ass Press article.

I'm willing to wait..hey, I did say IF the reports are true. . And I fully admit I have no clue how to fight a ship fire. None...zero.

Keep in mind that the crew complement was around 150 when the fire broke out. So this immediately became a different scenario than during an actual deployment in that they were immediately fighting an uphill battle.

 

[308pirate]

We didn't scrap the Forrestal after this, and you can't even see the devastation below decks from all the fires as burning kerosene showered down through the huge holes in the flight deck



I doubt the Bonhomme Richard will be.

 

[308pirate]

Keep in mind that the crew complement was around 150 when the fire broke out. So this immediately became a different scenario than during an actual deployment in that they were immediately fighting an uphill battle.

The 150 was most likey Sunday's duty section

 

[gunsnjeeps]

All I've seen is speculation.

And some one quoting Adm Kuzetsov (Russia's only carrier) saying "On fire? First time?"

That's funny.

I was on older Gator, oldest at the time, Austin. Coming out of maintenance they didn't have vehicles on board. Could be Hazmat storage, not sure if upper or lower v have halon. Would guess just engine rooms.

We hit Air Department on GW several times before I retired for the oil drums involved in their 2006 fire going around South America.

Some of the media reports show how little they know about ship's; from being glad it isn't a nuke to the San Diego fire chief saying it could burn down to the waterline.

My unofficial guess is scrap then reef. I don't think there is much left to salvage.