Fire - USS Bonhomme Richard LHD-6 - 12 Jul 20

[Asturias56]

The BHR is a Wasp class LHD - the class totalled 8 vessels.

They are being replaced by the America class LHA's of which there are 2 completed , one building and 8 more on order. Most of these will be like the 3rd vessel Bougainville with a well deck which was not installed on the first two, Far better to order an extra LHA I'd have thought - the BHR is well over 20 years old

[SLXOwft]

The third of the America class Bougainville isn't due until 2024.and the contract for long lead items on the fourth was only signed in May this year. So it would be a very long wait for a twelfth.

The America Class were initially orded to replace the 5 Tarawa Class ships and are based on the design of USS Makin Island the last of the Wasp Class (which entered service in 2009).

AFAIKtwo Tarawa Class ships are in reserve Peleliu only since 2015 so she might be a gap fill option.

As an aside I am sure others here may remember being told that, with nothing to inhibit free surface effect, 3 inches of water on the main hangar deck of the Mighty Ark or Big E could have caused capsize.

[dead_pan]

Footage of helo firefighting effort - dropping (and often missing) with thimbles of water:

You Tube

What they need is a CL-415 doing circuits in the harbour...

[gileraguy]

A friend had a job once which involved observing (physically watching) ANY hazardous work (e.g. grinding or welding etc.) on a ship undergoing maintainance in port.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing once when a guy was grinding at a high level and stood on a 20 litre drum of thinners to reach the desired height...

[Islandlad]

Originally Posted by dead_pan

Footage of helo firefighting effort - dropping (and often missing) with thimbles of water:

https://youtu.be/D1gmLgZ_bT0

What they need is a CL-415 doing circuits in the harbour...

They may be a bit pissed off now the fire is out

[SLXOwft]

POI Melting point of Carbon Steel is around 2500-2800º F or 1371-1540º C I didn't pick up what unit the 1000º was big difference F or C.

[Less Hair]

The ship is toast but it looks like they got the fire out. No more smoke.
Cool thing and respect.

[goofer3]

Originally Posted by SLXOwft

As an aside I am sure others here may remember being told that, with nothing to inhibit free surface effect, 3 inches of water on the main hangar deck of the Mighty Ark or Big E could have caused capsize.

I couldn't remember the exact depth but I knew it didn't take many inches. When any hot work such as welding was being carried out on the ship they would always be accompanied by a man with a fire extinguisher, either in the same compartment or on the other side of the bulkhead, and would stay for another 30 minutes after the hot work had finished.

[Waddo Liney]

Still burning

I live in San Diego although a good distance away from the Naval Base. Local news reports are that the fire is still burning. When I went outside this morning at around 8 am, there was a distinct smell of burnt plastic in the air.
Here's a report from our local Channel 8 news updated at 12:30 pm today https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/lo...9-ed37a99f494a

[ORAC]

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...nhomme-richard

Navy Says At Least One Fire Continues To Burn On The USS Bonhomme Richard

U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Philip Sobeck, head of Expeditionary Strike Group Three, says that the USS Bonhomme Richard is stable and structurally safe despite a still ongoing fire onboard the Wasp class amphibious assault ship. The vessel has now been burning continuously for more than 48 hours now and has produced sustained temperatures of at least 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas......The key new details from this latest press conference are:
...

• The ship is stable and the structure is safe.
• No major damage to the ship's four main engineering spaces.
• No threat to the ship's fuel tanks at present.
• The fuel tanks are well below any of the remaining active fires or heat sources, so any risk to them at this point is low.
• The ship has salt water-filled compensation tanks that also help keep the fuel tanks cool.
• There is at least one active fire in a forward area of the ship.
• Firefighters had been unable to get to those spaces until today.
• There is another heat source that could be another fire aft.
• These two areas are isolated from each other.
• Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Three (HSC-3), based at nearby Naval Air Station North Island, has conducted more than 1,200 water bucket drops, in total.
• In addition to other external firefighting operations, these drops have been essential in allowing firefighters to actually get on the ship.
• 61 personnel have been injured, in total, so far, 38 sailors and 23 civilians.
• None of those individuals are hospitalized.
• An explosion occurred while the crew was securing the space where the initial fire had broken out before they could safely energize the fire suppression system.
• The fire spread rapidly from the front to the rear of the ship.
• Navy is working with San Diego authorities to step up monitoring of potential adverse environmental impacts.
• Coast Guard is prepared to respond to any potential environmental issues, including an oil spill.
• No visible evidence of oil spill at present.
• Hope that all fires will be out within the next 24 hours.
• Too early to tell the full extent of the damage.

The Navy's position that the ship, which has been visibly listing, is stable and structurally sound is a significant and positive development. There had been concerns that areas that had been exposed to persistent temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit could be compromised.

Still, the pictures that have already emerged online show significant internal damage, as well as to the flight deck and superstructure. It will take the Navy a not-insignificant amount of time to just conduct a full damage assessment.....

Twitter

[Auxtank]

ORAC, nice PowerPoint Bullet Points but the ship is f**ked.

I hope there's a damn good inquiry in to how this happned and not just a white wash; "Hot Works means we turn off Fire Supression."
That's just not a good enough excuse anymore.
Contractors - dodgy tools - don't give a monkey's - Notre-Dame...

[NutLoose]

Originally Posted by gileraguy

A friend had a job once which involved observing (physically watching) ANY hazardous work (e.g. grinding or welding etc.) on a ship undergoing maintainance in port.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing once when a guy was grinding at a high level and stood on a 20 litre drum of thinners to reach the desired height...

It would not surprise me.

[RAFEngO74to09]

Article: https://www.defensenews.com/naval/20..._source=clavis

"The amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, which burned through the night while in port in San Diego, was at the tail end of two years of upgrades supporting the integration of the F-35B, according to Navy documents.

That means the Navy will now have fewer options to deploy the next-generation fighter in the Pacific.

The Navy awarded the $219 million modernization contract to General Dynamics, National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. in 2018, which had options for up to $250 million. Bonhomme Richard is one of four large-deck amphibs to have received the upgrades. The Boxer was announced earlier this year as the fifth big-deck to get the upgrades.

Experts said the loss of Bonhomme Richard, whether a total loss or just lost for extensive repairs, deals a significant blow to the Navy’s plans to have F-35Bs continually deployed in the Pacific. And with Monday’s announcement that the United States had formally rejected China’s claims about the South China Sea, any accompanying boost in naval presence could be slowed by the fire.

The Navy’s deployment model is based on having permanent forward presence in vital regions, such as the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East. To accomplish that, the service needs enough ships to support one forward on deployment, one in an elevated status of readiness to surge in an emergency, one in maintenance and one in pre-deployment workups.

In other words, in an ideal world the Navy would have at least four ships to have one of them always on deployment. But with longer overhauls, such as the F-35B upgrades, it might require five ships to make one forward."

----------------------
What chance that after the USMC do their workup training later this year on HMS Queen Elizabeth - or after the CSG 21 deployment - and then start lobbying their corner on future requirements - that the USA gives the UK an offer too good to refuse for HMS Prince of Wales - buy, loan or exchange for a bunch of "free" F-35s !

[ozbiggles]

You could get a few F-22s for the price of the British carriers.

[ORAC]

Photo montage of the fire fighting.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...nhomme-richard

Photos: The battle to save the USS Bonhomme Richard

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by SLXOwft

POI Melting point of Carbon Steel is around 2500-2800º F or 1371-1540º C I didn't pick up what unit the 1000º was big difference F or C.

The melting point is not the issue, a serious 1000C fire over 48 hours will have changed the structural properties of the steel. It will start to soften at only 450C and will loose 50% of its strength at 650C, which is usually the temp range that you stress relieve steel at.

The ship is toast.....well done toast at that.

[Asturias56]

"AFAIKtwo Tararawa Class ships are in reserve Peleliuonly since 2015 so she might be a gap fill option."

Yes Nassau LHA4 has been in reserves since 2011 and Peleliu LHA5 only since 2015 - Peleliu is only a few years older than BHR and could probably be reactivated for a small part of the time & cost of a rebuild .

Even though they weren't a great success as a class she could operate Harriers and fill a gap if they feel they need to.

[Imagegear]

What chances an unwelcome visitor among the onboard contractors?

Fire starting in an unoccupied storage area with lots of cardboard pallets and other combustibles?

Significant F35 capability downgraded in the Pacific?

Anyone recently left the country?

There are some bigger questions here.

IG

[Hot 'n' High]

Originally Posted by dead_pan

Footage of helo firefighting effort - dropping (and often missing) with thimbles of water ................

That took me straight back to the sight of those poor crews at Chernobyl back in '86. At least it was "only" noxious fumes in the smoke this time round!

On the issue of "things going wrong" I recall a Fire Exercise at sea once. A smoke canister was put in a small workshop compartment to simulate a fire. I was the first on the scene but I was immediately dragged away by the Damage Control WO - me being an Engineer. What he wanted to see was how the aircrew handled it as the "fire" was right next to their Briefing Room where they were all sat. I'd just finished my morning Engineering Brief to the Crews so was closest the door/"fire" waiting to head off to the Flight Deck once the Brief was over.

Smoke poured out from a vent while the guys (no gals involved on that day) sorted themselves out and started rigging hoses etc, etc, etc. I stood with the DC WO idly watching the fun. I then suddenly noticed the smoke was slowly turning from white to black so I nudged the WO and pointed it out - at which point he had a bit of an "Oh, bother!" moment - next pipe "Fire, Fire, Fire - Fire in 2XYZ, Standing Sea Fire Party close up at 2WXY! This is NOT an exercise!".

Unfortunately the lad setting the smoke canister up for the WO decided to hide the canister in a small store area off the workshop to make it more difficult to find the seat of the "fire". Took a little while to put the real fire out - and I can vouch for it that cans of paint burn with black smoke!!! It made a bit of a mess in 4 adjacent compartments too. Owch!!!!

[Asturias56]

Originally Posted by gileraguy

A friend had a job once which involved observing (physically watching) ANY hazardous work (e.g. grinding or welding etc.) on a ship undergoing maintainance in port.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing once when a guy was grinding at a high level and stood on a 20 litre drum of thinners to reach the desired height...

To quote Barnes Wallis " it's hard to make things fool-proof as the fools are so damn clever at finding a way round any precautions"

I've seen a worker hitting a stuck valve with a hammer beside an open orifice - had he succeed there was 10,000 psi gas ready to cut him in half - that was an hour after a safety briefing. I've seen someone refuel a small petrol engine which was red hot while it was still running by pouring petrol into the tank on top of the engine without even a funnel, I've seen someone place an open box of detonators on top of a pile of explosives on a small boat right next to the boarding point where people often jumped into the boat.............

I of course have done nothing so stupid......