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Fire continues to rage aboard Navy ship in San Diego
ABC News ^ | 07-13-2020 | Staff

Posted on 07/13/2020 2:26:03 PM PDT by NRx

More than 400 sailors are working to put out the massive fire that continues to rage aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego and Navy officials are unclear how long the blaze might continue to burn.

The fire has brought down the amphibious assault ship's forward mast and caused other damage to the ship's superstructure that rises above its flight deck.

"There is a tremendous amount of heat underneath and that's where it's -- it's flashing up -- also forward, closer to the bow again there's a heat source and we're trying to get to that as well," Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 said at a news conference Monday in San Diego.

More than 400 sailors are working to put out the massive fire that continues to rage aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego and Navy officials are unclear how long the blaze might continue to burn.

The fire has brought down the amphibious assault ship's forward mast and caused other damage to the ship's superstructure that rises above its flight deck.

"There is a tremendous amount of heat underneath and that's where it's -- it's flashing up -- also forward, closer to the bow again there's a heat source and we're trying to get to that as well," Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 said at a news conference Monday in San Diego.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; fire; sandiego; ussbonhommerichard; usship
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To: rlmorel

Lol, not 200 years old, though we all feel like it sometimes. FIL began his service during WWII, got out briefly after the war, then reenlisted after his lumber mill went bust and made a career of it. He retired in 1968. Just Googled the ship, and it was retired in 1971, so I’m sure that’s the one, thanks!


141 posted on 07/13/2020 11:32:17 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: raybbr

For real?

Aluminum components and superstructure over a steel hull.
Bonhomme has essentially become an aluminum smelter.


142 posted on 07/14/2020 12:36:01 AM PDT by cranked
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To: Blood of Tyrants
"Usually the aircraft are not on the ship when in port."

Realized that as soon as I posted it:
1) Write
2) Read
3) Reread
4)Post

143 posted on 07/14/2020 3:10:33 AM PDT by Psalm 73
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To: LibWhacker

I always loved it that we had a carrier named the Bon Homme Richard...great name! Sailors referred to her as “The Bonnie Dick” which, as a kid, I always found funny...

Well, it doesn’t take much to get a dirty snicker out of a dirty minded little boy, that’s true...


144 posted on 07/14/2020 5:03:43 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: Celtic Conservative

I have always been fascinated by the fire, and happy not to have experienced it.

When I served on a carrier, it was never far out of my mind. I always thought:

“It could happen here.”


145 posted on 07/14/2020 5:07:21 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: NRx

Just out of curiosity, how do you scuttle a docked ship? Would it do any good, there can’t be that much water under the ship’s keel?


146 posted on 07/14/2020 5:30:51 AM PDT by ops33 (SMSgt, USAF, Retired)
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To: NRx

Modern US warships are designed to take severe damage, brought back to dry dock, repaired and fight again.


147 posted on 07/14/2020 5:37:08 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: ops33

To scuttle a docked ship, you could open the Kingston Valves (often referred to as “sea valves”) which allow water to flow freely into the hull of a ship.

It isn’t unprecedented, but usually a last ditch effort.


148 posted on 07/14/2020 5:40:37 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: central_va
Modern US warships are designed to take severe damage, brought back to dry dock, repaired and fight again.

True. But this one is 22 years old and gutted. Do you spend ten figures repairing her or do you invest the money in replacing her?

149 posted on 07/14/2020 5:43:47 AM PDT by Lower Deck
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To: Lower Deck

I don’t know. It all depends on how many LHA’s are in the new construction pipe line. If a new on is one (LHA) is near completion maybe you start a new one as a replacement. These are the type of strategic decisions usual made during wartime, it is very unusual to have to make these kind of decisions in peace time.


150 posted on 07/14/2020 5:48:36 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: US_MilitaryRules

Four, at least.


151 posted on 07/14/2020 6:02:51 AM PDT by KC Burke (If all the world is a stage, I would like to request my lighting be adjusted.)
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To: Spktyr

I stand corrected! Thanks for that.

}:-)4


152 posted on 07/14/2020 6:24:25 AM PDT by Moose4 (I am father to a teenager. My opinion is invalid.)
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To: null and void

Yikes! Wouldn’t surprise me if she’s done and dusted at this point. The repair costs would almost certainly run into the tens of millions at the absolute minimum, more probably the hundreds of millions. (The Miami would have cost $450m-$700m to repair, which is why they scrapped her.)

}:-)4


153 posted on 07/14/2020 6:27:56 AM PDT by Moose4 (I am father to a teenager. My opinion is invalid.)
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To: rlmorel

I’m stunned that they rebuilt the Belknap and she served fifteen more years.

}:-)4


154 posted on 07/14/2020 6:30:08 AM PDT by Moose4 (I am father to a teenager. My opinion is invalid.)
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To: doorgunner69

Like you said, I would think that the air wing would not fly off for a visit into Pearl Harbor, only for when it was going into its home port after a deployment, and the air wing would go back to whence it came.

When you get into your home port, the only planes left aboard are the unflyable hangar queens...

I had the misfortune of having to stick around after a deployment to repair a plane they had to crane off the ship. It sucked.

I was set to go home on leave, but had to get the engine changed out and a bunch of lesser components and I was chosen to lead up the team.

I admit, it was interesting to tow the plane up a street from Pier 12 with cars all around us to a little hangar, and we worked from the moment the ship docked until 6 am the next morning, and I was beat.

As we were cleaning up, I was sweeping the floor, and paused to rest my crossed forearms on the end of the broom handle...and promptly fell asleep.

I awoke to painful blinding stars in my eyes...I had instantly fallen asleep standing up, my forearms slid off the broom handle which then went right into my eye socket...I was lucky I didn’t put my eye out!

But I wanted to get home...:)


155 posted on 07/14/2020 6:38:31 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: Moose4

She was a nice looking vessel, no doubt...

I often wonder where the value is in refitting and repairing rather than scrapping.

I suspect it may be due to the way funds are allocated. Refitting and Repairing may come from a different part of the budget and easier to access than getting money allocated for a new vessel to replace the scrapped one.


156 posted on 07/14/2020 6:42:06 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: central_va
I don’t know. It all depends on how many LHA’s are in the new construction pipe line.

Two under construction, one on order.

157 posted on 07/14/2020 6:42:59 AM PDT by Lower Deck
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To: Spktyr
The problem with that is that if the CO2 extinguisher can’t put the fire out, it has also done nothing to cool the hull, bulkheads or deck. Radiant heating through those surfaces can cause ignition of substances on the other side without the fire actually getting past it. If you flood the fire with water, you cool those structures even if the fire isn’t extinguished.

One report on the earlier thread had tires on the pier acting as fenders smoking due to the radiant heat coming through the starboard hull. Even with the fireboats cooling it on the port side (but not continually), the strength of the steel hull has to be compromised. If that is the case, there is no way to repair it from the waterline and above. The decision then is to strip it to the waterline and rebuild, or scrap and recover machinery untouched below the fire impacted decks.

158 posted on 07/14/2020 8:18:17 AM PDT by CedarDave (Public schools are nothing more than government-run radical propaganda indoctrination centers.)
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To: Lower Deck

They will probably just order another new one. Transfer this crew to the 2nd one under construction. But that is only a guess.


159 posted on 07/14/2020 8:30:23 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: Spktyr

Seeing how many shipboard fires are started by welders during refit, turning off the Halon was one stupid decision!


160 posted on 07/14/2020 9:04:33 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( Experience is the best teacher, but if you can accept it 2nd hand, the tuition is less!)
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