OT: Bonhomme Richard Fire

[Bodei]

I heard they were switching from bombs to torpedoes when it happened...

[Footslogger]

I saw this "Sensational" article.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/1-000 ... d=msedgdhp

Steel begins to melt at 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.

[fcooke]

Sad to say - if you cannot get a fire out in a warship in 24 hours something is very wrong......

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: fcooke

Sad to say - if you cannot get a fire out in a warship in 24 hours something is very wrong......

The earlier info about Naval Support being called in to help with firefighting implies that there is no crew aboard, just the dockyard people who are unlikely to be properly trained in firefighting. The ship would have no power to operate its firefighting systems, everything would have to originate from shore.

[geofflambert]

The report was that the ship was nearly completely unmanned when the fire started and those that were left were in the process of deboarding.

[geofflambert]

.

[Anachro]

I'm seeing reports of "damaged beyond repair" and 1000+ degree fires raging below.

[Yaab]

Those raging rags!

[JohnDillworth]

Still looking for a photo saw yesterday form an overhead helicopter. Flight deck is completely burnt through on about 40% of the deck. Everything I can see through the deck is ash. Might be burnt through numerous decks. Mast has also seemed to have collapsed into the deck. This is going to be a write off.

[JohnDillworth]

Found this photo. I saw a high-res version of this yesterday but it quickly got wiped from the internet. Probably classified but here is a thumbnail form my browser cache

[JohnDillworth]

also read this quote:

"I was on LHD-7 which is the sister ship, we only had suppression systems in critical or high risk spaces. The rest of the ship relies on the on board damage control teams which where not on board. They only had a skeleton crew. Call it a calamity of worst case scenarios.

The Navy will make changes based on this, we always have, example, USS Forrestal being a key point in Naval fire fighting history."

[Anachro]

It just seems a bit naive if in the past the navy has recognized the increased risk of damage/fire while in port for refit/repair, a damage control team should always be on hand. Anyways, yes, this is a write-off; the slow, unstoppable progress of the fire and grinding firefight, as well as the images seen of the burnt out, hollowed ship, all makes this feel hauntingly similar to the firefighting efforts of Kido Butai at Midway described in Shattered Sword. The ships wont sink, but will be so damaged and warped on the interior as to be hardly worth repairing.

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

It just seems a bit naive if in the past the navy has recognized the increased risk of damage/fire while in port for refit/repair, a damage control team should always be on hand. Anyways, yes, this is a write-off; the slow, unstoppable progress of the fire and grinding firefight, as well as the images seen of the burnt out, hollowed ship, all makes this feel hauntingly similar to the firefighting efforts of Kido Butai at Midway described in Shattered Sword. The ships wont sink, but will be so damaged and warped on the interior as to be hardly worth repairing.

Even if they had a civilian construction team on board they would have a fire watch 24x7. Pure speculation but what might happened is something exploded (could be a gas cylinder, improperly stored solvent, a lithium battery, ect ect. lots of flammable things on ships and construction sites) and the crew on board did not have any procedures to call for outside assistance with the fire, they never got ahead of the fire and by the time they got help it was too late and the help did not really know how to fight fires on warships. A complex system failure for sure and absolutely a learning experience for the entire Navy. Someone way up the command chain is going to be put in charge of investigating this and they will do an outstanding job. It will be interesting reading a couple of years from now.

[BBfanboy]

Remember how we all marveled at the ineptitude of Russian firefighting efforts when their carrier caught fire a few months ago? The shoe is on the other foot now.

I guess the lesson is that fire on ships is so dangerous that you better have trained firefighting people standing by at all times. There are probably numerous incidents where fires are quickly doused and we never hear about them, so people get complacent about the chances of fires starting.

[LargeSlowTarget]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

Found this photo. I saw a high-res version of this yesterday but it quickly got wiped from the internet. Probably classified but here is a thumbnail form my browser cache

I have seen it on https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/b ... index.html

[RangerJoe]

It is a good thing that there was no ammunition on board. The fuel is bad enough.

All sailors are trained in firefighting.

I wonder if the vehicles were loaded. If the Marine vehicles were loaded and they have aluminium armour, that burns very hot.

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

Found this photo. I saw a high-res version of this yesterday but it quickly got wiped from the internet. Probably classified but here is a thumbnail form my browser cache

I have seen it on https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/b ... index.html

Thanks. Yeah, that's not good. Looks like that deck melted. Can't tell how many decks down that goes but I do believe this ship is only good for parts, and not many of those

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

It is a good thing that there was no ammunition on board. The fuel is bad enough.

All sailors are trained in firefighting.

I wonder if the vehicles were loaded. If the Marine vehicles were loaded and they have aluminium armour, that burns very hot.

By all accounts there were not many crew aboard. Not sure if they left a full fire-fighting crew aboard. If they did not I suspect that will be the last time that happens. The Navy was honest and tough on itself in examining the ship collisions a few years ago. I'd expect nothing less this time

[RangerJoe]

I read where there were 160 sailors on board the ship. All are trained to fight fires but I do not know to what extent their training goes to.

[fcooke]

She is toast. Cheaper to build a new one. Or just let the fleet have one fewer. Still surprised harbor craft could not come out and cover her in water.