USS Bonhomme Richard on fire at Naval Base San Diego

[boatgeek]

The Navy decided to decommission the Bonhomme Richard and is about to begin parting her out for other ships. Rebuilding to the current service would have cost $3 billion, and rebuilding for another service would have been about $1 billion. Having been involved in these kinds of projects before, those numbers are almost certainly low--you always find more to do when you start opening things up.

I have no doubt that the name will move on to another ship, likely one in the USS America (LHA-6) class. The one ship still under construction in that class still has a name, but even in May there were plans to build another ship. Those plans will no doubt be finalized now.

Also note that the investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing.

https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/P...49/navy-to-decommission-uss-bonhomme-richard/

 

[Fishhead]

The Bonnie Dick was Jim Morrison's fathers ship. Jim was taken aboard on a tour, given a haircut, and invited to shoot at junk in the water with a machine gun. When I saw this thread, I figured that it had to be a newer ship. I believe Morrison's visit was either pre-Vietnam or in the early days of the war.

 

[boatgeek]

The Bonnie Dick was Jim Morrison's fathers ship. Jim was taken aboard on a tour, given a haircut, and invited to shoot at junk in the water with a machine gun. When I saw this thread, I figured that it had to be a newer ship. I believe Morrison's visit was either pre-Vietnam or in the early days of the war.

That would have been an earlier ship with the same name, a WWII-era carrier that was modernized for Vietnam. There have been 4 ships to carry the name, starting with John Paul Jones in 1779.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bonhomme_Richard

 

[HHaase]

I just hope they actually do a proper investigation on this one, and don't start blaming an innocent guy like they did on the Iowa.

-Hans

 

[Banzai88]

I just hope they actually do a proper investigation on this one, and don't start blaming an innocent guy like they did on the Iowa.

-Hans

I have friends who call that ship 'Home'. There's a LOT going on behind the scenes in the various investigations right now that they're, rightfully, not talking about publicly.

Having worked as a Sailor in shipyards on active duty during overhauls and RCOH events, worked FOR the shipyard as a civilian, and having worked IN shipyards as a contractor, the real wonder is that more and more disastrous fires haven't occurred before this one.

If you've ever worked in a shipyard or done a yard period or even a pier side availability on a US Navy ship, you know that 'shipyard culture' is surely to be major contributing factor.

 

[afadeev]

If you've ever worked in a shipyard or done a yard period or even a pier side availability on a US Navy ship, you know that 'shipyard culture' is surely to be major contributing factor.

Sadly, you are more than correct.
It turns out the ship's crew training and culture was even more brazen.

From the recent report:

While one sailor has been charged with setting the fire, the more than 400-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, lists three dozen officers and sailors whose failings either directly led to the ship’s loss or contributed to it. The findings detailed widespread lapses in training, coordination, communication, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control.​

​

“Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” the report said, concluding that “repeated failures” by an “inadequately prepared crew” delivered “an ineffective fire response.”​

​

It slammed commanders of the amphibious assault ship for poor oversight, and said the main firefighting foam system wasn’t used because it hadn’t been maintained properly and the crew didn’t know how to use it.​

https://www.cleveland19.com/2021/10...res-fire-that-destroyed-uss-bonhomme-richard/
As they saying goes:

 

[Banzai88]

Dovetails with what I see every.single.day. Most Sailors can tell you all 43 genders (or however many the .gov 'officially' recognizes), but almost none of them can do their jobs as a cohesive unit. Individually they might be superlative, but as a unit.....not so much.

Leadership, at all levels, is especially......lacking. E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. is tip toeing around trying to make it to 20 without someone pointing a finger and calling them one of the 'trigger' words that would get them excoriated and ostracized.

In a shooting war, we're gonna get our collective butts handed to us for a while before we get it all in one sock!