Forgive my ignorance but there will be no ammunition on board when works are done pierside?

Presume that all ammo etc will have been removed before the maint. work started but fighting a fire on top of 1M gallons of fuel? - braver people than me, thats for sure; please take care. I wonder if they have started to evacuate the docks area, if that lot goes off it will be one hell of a bang.

It was in dock for a pre-planned 24 month maintenance cycle so hopefully nothing serious aboard apart from some small arms ammo.

Certainly nothing that would go up better than the 1,000,000 gallons of fuel down below. . .


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....75868c9e22.jpg

Also the Empress of Canada in Liverpool in the 1950s and a Danish ferry the Kronprins Frederik at Parkeston Quay (Harwich) also in the 1950s.

How about towing her to some remote safe place and let her burn out there? Right now we have a major fire inside some huge military port with many ships next to her.

Why not simply scuttle her where she is, recovery of everything will be a damned sight easier?

Who in their right mind would go aboard to do that? Same with towing.

Why would they leave 1,000,000 gallons of fuel on board during a 24 month refit? Doesn't it go off like petrol?

If it’s shallow enough it might prevent a capsize

Nowhere to store it? Is there an issue that you can't just stick it back into a general storage tank without potentially contaminating that fuel somehow? Does seem odd, I agree.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/craigho...ety-practices/

USS Bonhomme Richard Burns, Likely A Victim Of Lax Fire Safety Practices

The boiler is said to have exploded due to over pressure for some reason. Not sure what that necessarily has to do with fire safety practices? Maybe better wait for the report?

Possibly to ballast the ship?. after all if it wasn't a reason like that you would expct them to run down the fuel prior to refit.

That's what I thought as they said it had a list on. At least if its sitting on the bottom it is stable as you rectify the problem, it could also be possible to refloat it in the future

The main thrust of the article is the litany of previous dockyard fires and mishaps which have preceded this one. To quote:

”....America’s Navy has seen these scenarios play out far too many times. In 2012, America lost the multibillion-dollar attack submarine USS Miami (SSN 755) because a shipyard worker, eager to leave work early, set the sub on fire. Last year, 11 U.S. sailors were injured in a fire aboard the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), a critical Marine-toting mini-carrier. USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) also suffered a fire in November 2018, and subsequent damage will keep the ship out of the fleet for almost two years longer than planned. According to USNI News, the USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) suffered a shipyard fire as well. In 2011, a fire torched the stacks of the USS Spruance (DDG 111). Other recent shipyard mishaps have included over $30 million worth of damage to the future destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) after a collision in April 2019. These, along with other avoidable incidents—fires at sea, groundings, collisions and other accidents—have essentially sunk or sidelined an entire U.S. battle fleet.....”

That looks like its toast..


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....928c988a5d.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6970a479c2.jpg

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/american-assault-ship-uss-bonhomme-richard-on-fire/ and the Telegraph

Fair argument which I also considered.

But the DOD doesn't like losing assets for any reason and will find somebody didn't do their job. Whether it is easy to correct or not, remains to be seen

I'm really not interested in the accidental cause as much as I am in the reasons for the spread (ala the Midway Jap disaster)

From roughly when the fire started, go to 3.40 ish the radio conversations says there are munitions on board but not in the fire area but one floor above and some / good distance aft?. Appears to spread awful quick considering its a warship.

The good old Press;

KUSI TV (San Diego TV station) reporting; "Apparently, there are hover-jets on board that can land down horizontally..."

Here is an aerial photograph taken sometime yesterday:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....bac7515fb6.png

Sad to see such a proud vessel in peril.

- Ed