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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: Undecided 2012

If there is a danger of the fire reaching the fuel tanks, they should scuttle the ship. Sink her at the pier. Because the water is so shallow there that would likely only flood the lower decks. But that would put a wall of water between the fire and the fuel.


81 posted on 07/13/2020 4:29:01 PM PDT by NRx (A man of honor passes his father's civilization to his son without surrendering it to strangers.)
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To: KC Burke
Maybe they had a couple of "hangar queens" on board that couldn't make the flight with the squadron (although the F-35 is just too new for that).

I don't know; it sounds like they had something on board that was expensive.

82 posted on 07/13/2020 4:29:51 PM PDT by Captain Walker
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To: NRx

Having been in the navy I can tell you the water level under that ship is a few feet. They know where each ship can dock. I don’t think sinking it would do more than drop it a few feet.


83 posted on 07/13/2020 4:32:04 PM PDT by Undecided 2012
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To: Conan the Librarian

Don’t think they want to totally sink it; maybe up over the decks or a bit higher. Then there’s the raising to do after if it’s worth it. Any news on how it started?


84 posted on 07/13/2020 4:33:13 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: cranked

So’s magnesium...


85 posted on 07/13/2020 4:33:17 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: Fungi

The Rooskies don’t have anything on us by god. we can burn a ship to the waterline with the best of the third world navies.


86 posted on 07/13/2020 4:34:10 PM PDT by technically right
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To: Undecided 2012

Good points...And it may come to a point where the amount of water required to buffer the fuel tanks from the fire will create stability concerns including sinking or possibly capsizing.


87 posted on 07/13/2020 4:34:41 PM PDT by PerConPat (A politician is an animal that can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground--Mencken)
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To: KC Burke

And how many years?


88 posted on 07/13/2020 4:36:21 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (I'm not tired of Winning yet! Please, continue on!)
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To: Equine1952

I agree, I was on the Blueback. It’s to ever see a ship/boat go down.


89 posted on 07/13/2020 4:37:28 PM PDT by Undecided 2012
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To: carriage_hill

Magnesium burns like hell fire


90 posted on 07/13/2020 4:37:53 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: SkyDancer

Wild guess but possibly used dirty old solvent/painting rags put in a can or maybe a box or a pile on the ground. Reading that the ship is under repairs.


91 posted on 07/13/2020 4:40:52 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (I'm not tired of Winning yet! Please, continue on!)
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To: SkyDancer
Same thing could happen to the BHR but only if it capsized, not settled straight down.

At this point, they should flood it and let it settle.

The Normandie's architect suggested the same thing but was overruled.

92 posted on 07/13/2020 4:42:53 PM PDT by Spirochete (GOP: Gutless Old Party)
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To: US_MilitaryRules

A ship/boat in port is always under repair/maintenance until underway again.


93 posted on 07/13/2020 4:43:13 PM PDT by Undecided 2012
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To: hanamizu

The USS Oklahoma capsized, was righted and refloated but sank under tow to the west coast. The USS West Virginia was counter flooded to sink sitting up right.

The USS Franklin was repaired in NewYork and sent to mothball in 1947. She was never modernized like most of the other Essex class carriers in the 1950’s. She was scrapped in 1966.


94 posted on 07/13/2020 4:48:25 PM PDT by sarge83
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To: Eleutheria5
Pardon me for asking, but isn’t the boat in a harbor, which is made of water, which puts out fires?

I haven't read the whole thread yet, so I'm sorry if this has been responded to, but as a native local and the bay being my old stomping grounds that the deepest part of the bay is the channel. Where the burning ship is is right outside of the channel. The channel is right outside of the containment booms you see floating out in front of the bow. The channel runs parallel to the coast at that point, and would probably be (without breaking out my charts) the only part of the bay that would come close to being able to swallow a ship like that. That would block all large traffic to the southern part of the bay.

95 posted on 07/13/2020 4:49:47 PM PDT by cabojoe
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To: US_MilitaryRules

Wonder if the captain will be held responsible.


96 posted on 07/13/2020 4:54:35 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: SkyDancer

Let’s assume his career is over whether he was there or not.


97 posted on 07/13/2020 4:58:18 PM PDT by Undecided 2012
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To: Undecided 2012

If a ship is in for repairs don’t they have the captain do shore duty?


98 posted on 07/13/2020 5:00:31 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: KC Burke

I have heard nothing about that other than it was a refit for the F35, so my assumption would be the planes were not there. Looking at the pics of the deck you dont see any. I know when my boy was at sea, the planes did not leave the port with the ship ... they flew on later. My guess is they are parked at the NAS.


99 posted on 07/13/2020 5:02:00 PM PDT by RainMan (rainman)
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To: Eleutheria5
She carries a *LOT* of fuel.

About 1.8 million gallons of F-76 distillate fuel and 400,000+ gallons of JP-5 aviation turbine fuel at full load. That fuel is going to burn until they get it out.

100 posted on 07/13/2020 5:07:44 PM PDT by atomic_dog
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