old salt wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 5:21 pm
Kismet wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:50 pm
old salt wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:13 pm
Kismet wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:42 pm
https://news.usni.org/2020/07/12/breaki ... chard-fire
UPDATED: 11 Sailors Injured, Explosion Reported in USS Bonhomme Richard Fire
Sailors have been hurt in a fire and explosion on hanger deck aboard amphibious warship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) that’s docked the pier at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., local officials said on Sunday.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported 11 sailors had been taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries, citing Navy officials.
Looking at the FNC video -- looks like she's in a yard maint period. Numerous containers on the flight deck. No aircraft or acft handling vehicles visible.
Not at sea or deployed, so weapons magazines & fuel tanks should be at low levels.
FNC reports the fire started in the well deck (a large open, easy to access space). Likely started by a welding job or other "hot work".
Should be containable with limited damage.
You might want to rethink your happy news attitude (only an estimated 1 MILLION gallons of fuel on board)
This morning's update (as the ship still burns)
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-nav ... B4.twitter
"The fire is believed to have started below those spaces, in the lower cargo hold of the ship, known as the “Deep V,” Sobeck said.
San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell told CNN Sunday that the fire could burn for days “down to the water line.”
While what caused the fire and when it will be extinguished remained unclear Sunday night, the inferno aboard the 23-year-old ship risks becoming a so-called “constructive total loss” if the fire is allowed to burn itself out, according to Lawrence Brennan, a retired Navy captain who now teaches admiralty law at Fordham University’s School of Law."
“This could cost the U.S. Navy an important aviation asset, capable of handling modern F-35s,” he said in an email. “Repair prices, if practical, will be hundreds of millions of dollars, or replacement will take many years and cost about a billion dollars.”
Not looking good for the Bonnie Dick. When I posted my initial thoughts, it was based on initial reporting that the fire originated in the well deck. Nor did initial reporting indicate that the ship was in a shipyard maint period with reduced manning onboard. This reduced the available crew for damage control teams onboard. Additionally, there was much more flammable matl exposed due to the yard maint & more compartments & passageways were open & could not be quickly locked down, as they would be if ship were fully manned & rapid damage control lockdown of compartments & passageways could be accomplished. Most importantly, the HALON suppression system was disabled for maint. This allowed the fire to increase quickly with the heat flashing to the superstructure & other locations, requiring the evacuation of some of the ships crew fire fighting teams. It's now a fight to save the ship. The engineering spaces & fuel tanks (holding a million gallons) are intact. It's now a fight to keep the fire away from them. Thankfully, there's no ordnance on board.
When a ship's in a yard maint period, much of the organic fire safety design & manpower designed into Navy ships is compromised.
It becomes more like a steel building than a ahip.
I fear this may be La Morte de Bonnie Dick. Unfortunately she's one of our LHD's that have been retrofitted to deploy & operate the F-35B.
This messes up the Amphib Readiness Group's deployment schedule & may require switching a, E coast LHD to the W coast for home port.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... san-diego/
only 160 of the 1,000 sailors normally assigned on the ship were aboard at the time.
https://news.usni.org/2020/07/13/fire-f ... spitalized
The big-deck amphib, commissioned in 1998, returned from being forward deployed to Japan in 2018. Bonhomme Richard had just completed a $249 million repair period at the nearby General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard before transferring to the naval base.
Cascading effects of the Bonnie Dick fire on the Navy and future operation around the world
https://warontherocks.com/2020/07/more- ... tastrophe/
"As I write this, the USS Bonhomme Richard — a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship — burns at Pier 2, Naval Station San Diego. Scores of Navy and civilian firefighters have fought the blaze for over 72 hours and it is difficult to tell from afar how much progress is being made. One thing is clear: The ship will likely be, at best, out of action for years or, at worst, stricken from Navy rolls. In either case, there will be considerable impact to ongoing naval operations, force development efforts, and naval integration initiatives. While navalists tend to judge navies by the number of ships that comprise them, the plain truth is that not all ships are created equal. The loss of some ships is much worse than others. That is what Americans are watching happen before their eyes. Confidence in the Navy is shaken.
To provide conventional deterrence and forward-deployed assurance, the U.S. Navy relies on a finite number of force packages. They include the carrier strike group — comprised of a large, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a carrier air wing, and three to five surface combatants (cruisers and destroyers) and logistics ships — and the expeditionary strike group — comprised of an amphibious assault ship (such as the Bonhomme Richard), two additional amphibious warships, and a Marine expeditionary unit of over 2,000 marines whose mobility is provided by the ships and aircraft of the overall expeditionary strike group. Additionally, one to two surface combatants provide offensive and defensive power to the expeditionary strike group. Attack submarines may be associated with a larger formation but generally operate independently. Moreover, ships deploy independently or in small groups to support combatant commander requirements for exercise participation and other allied engagement."
Update of the firefighting Damage control - fire teams were evacuated yesterday evening as the ship's list inverted rapidly to port (towards the pier) from starboard
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... wards-pier