USS Bonhomme Richard ablaze at Naval Base San Diego

[bigwheelzip]

21 hospitalized fighting the fire aboard the Amphibious Assault Ship.
Live stream from the scene:
Watch live: 21 hospitalized with injuries from fire on USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego | cbs8.com

 

[Grayfox]

Report is that there was some sort of accident that led to an explosion during routine maintenance. Only minor injuries reported.

 

[opoefc]

46 reported injured, including 16 San Diego city firemen, but not life threatening , as of 5:15PM PST. Air quality threatened in cities south of the blaze due to amount of smoke.It being Sunday, only a minimum crew of a couple hundred were on board. Usual crew exceeds 1000. The ship is a troop transport type, 800+ ft. long.

 

[Rudi]

A lot of smoke there. Hope they get it under control soon.

 

[LVSteve]

Piece of tape played on TV just now had somebody saying it could burn to the waterline. On a modern warship? Boy, I hope not. I thought we were past that after the Royal Navy's experience in 1982 down in the South Atlantic.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I thought the Bonnie Dick was put out of service in the early 70's.

I thought the Bonnie Dick was decommissioned in the early 70's. We
were in comms with her until she sailed around the horn into the
Atlantic. If I remember correctly she had a wooden flight deck.
Anyone on here know for sure?

 

[jimmyj]

Was the Ship's Captain John Paul Jones ?

 

[LVSteve]

I thought the Bonnie Dick was put out of service in the early 70's.

I thought the Bonnie Dick was decommissioned in the early 70's. We
were in comms with her until she sailed around the horn into the
Atlantic. If I remember correctly she had a wooden flight deck.
Anyone on here know for sure?

That was the old Essex class carrier of that name. The ship currently on fire was completed in 1997 and is an amphibious assault ship.

 

[chiefbob81]

Old Arkansawyer, you are showing our age!

 

[CH4]

Hopefully it wasn’t a malicious act by a member(s) or sympathizer(s) of one of the anarchist groups.

 

[6518John]

Billion dollar loss. Yes billion with a “B.”

I have a feeling I know who the insurer is that will cover the loss—we taxpayers. I doubt they can buy insurance on a warship, but maybe I am wrong.

Admiral: Bonhomme Richard fire believed to have started in the ‘Deep V’ cargo hold

 

[bob1956]

Shipboard fire is the worst possible fire. Lots of man made materials burning. The smoke is toxic. The Miami fire a few years ago at my workplace definitely was a wake up call for the Navy and submariners as a whole. I was on the night shift when it happened. I can still taste the smoke in my mouth when I think about it. I’m praying for the injured and our forces afloat.

 

[vt_shooter]

Glad it happened in port rather than 3,000 miles out to sea.

 

[vigil617]

Fortunately, only the duty section of about 160 sailors was on board this weekend, while the rest of the 1,000-sailor crew was off. Bonhomme Richard was in a maintenance availability at the time, so there would be contractors working on various repair and refurbishment projects.

Apparently, there is a good possibility the ship will be sufficiently damaged by the ongoing fires to be considered a "constructive total loss," according to a story in Navy Times. And yes, it's fortunate the this did not happen at sea, although depending on the results of the investigation, whatever went wrong might not have been something that would have been done anyway unless the ship was pierside.

She has a million gallons of fuel on board.

 

[Jeff423]

I thought the Bonnie Dick was put out of service in the early 70's.

I thought the Bonnie Dick was decommissioned in the early 70's. We
were in comms with her until she sailed around the horn into the
Atlantic. If I remember correctly she had a wooden flight deck.
Anyone on here know for sure?

We must have been in the Navy about the same time because I had exactly the same question. I appreciate LVSteve's answer.

 

[Rudi]

I believe this is the 3rd. ship to bear the name. There could be a lot of ordnance and ammo on board too. Very bad situation.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

Old Arkansawyer, you are showing our age!

Yes, I may have rocks in my pasture younger than I am.

 

[swsig]

There are so many possibilities here to account for the almost certain destruction of a major warship: Ship's fire suppression system partially or totally shut down while refitting; Flammable construction equipment and supplies everywhere; Hatches not closable due to construction cables and hoses being run through them; Civilian contractor in a hurry to finish on schedule cutting corners on fire prevention, etc.

Although it will probably take some time to determine how this happened, it seems similar to what happened to the SS Normandie, one of the world's largest ocean liners, as it was being converted to a troop transport in New York harbor in 1942. Due to sloppy welding practice, a large group of life jackets was ignited, and the entire ship caught fire. It eventually capsized at the pier due to the massive amount of water poured into it. Nothing was salvageable, and the hulk was raised, towed away, and scrapped.

 

[GaryS]

I was told by someone who served on one of those ships that ordinance and ammunition are removed when those ships are in port for maintenance. Just as the aircraft are flown off.

I believe this is the 3rd. ship to bear the name. There could be a lot of ordnance and ammo on board too. Very bad situation.

 

[vigil617]

I was told by someone who served on one of those ships that ordinance and ammunition are removed when those ships are in port for maintenance. Just as the aircraft are flown off.

Standard practice. And one of the first, if not the first, stops after the maintenance availability is at the ammo pier to stock back up.

My Coast Guard cutter came out of the yards near Baltimore and headed straight to the loooooong ammo pier at Earle, New Jersey. As we were preparing to load up, we charged up the fire main system, a standard precaution when taking on ordnance.

That's when we found out the contractors had installed a valve backwards in the system, and our (fortunately still empty) magazine got flooded pierside! Ouch.

Had to do some scrambling to dry it out before we could continue our appointment.