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Thread: More than just a fire: The implications of the bonhomme richard catastrophe

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    More than just a fire: The implications of the bonhomme richard catastrophe

    MORE THAN JUST A FIRE: THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE BONHOMME RICHARD CATASTROPHE

    After this article went to press, the fire has been ended. The Navy will next go compartment to compartment to do a damage assessment and decide whether the ship can be repaired or not.

    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.


    The carrier strike group and the expeditionary strike group are, however, the basic formations of U.S. naval power. The ships at the heart of these formations — known colloquially as “big decks” — are large, capable, expensive, and critical. In the case of the aircraft carrier, such ships are so critical that Congress has set a minimum of 11 as the number of aircraft carriers the Navy must maintain by law. There is not a similar requirement for the number of amphibious assault ships like the Bonhomme Richard that the Navy must maintain, though there are currently 11 in the inventory. Unlike aircraft carriers, which are optimized for maritime power projection and sea control missions (anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and integrated air and missile defense), amphibious assault ships are optimized to project U.S. Marine Corps power ashore through a mix of fixed-wing attack aircraft, armed helicopters, and combat infantry. Because of the central role played by the limited number of aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships in command and control, warfighting, and logistics, the Navy’s approach to force readiness is built around the cycle of upkeep, maintenance and modernization, training, and deployment of these ships. Under the “Optimized Fleet Response Plan,” the employment cycles of the ships in an expeditionary strike group or carrier strike group are built around the big deck, with the end product being a deployable expeditionary strike group or carrier strike group capable of meeting the desired missions of combatant commanders.


    Based on this description, it should be clear why the loss of the Bonhomme Richard — even for only a few years — would be disruptive to the Navy’s provision of ready forces forward.

    Read the rest of the article at the link.
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    Oops, don't really want to cheapen an excellent post so I will delete my snide comment
    Last edited by nathanbforrest45; 07-17-2020 at 07:53 AM.

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    Its trashed.....done, finito. Were down to 299 ships. Needs to be replaced immediately.
    History does not long Entrust the care of Freedom, to the Weak or Timid!!!!! Dwight D. Eisenhower ~

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    Quote Originally Posted by MMC View Post
    Its trashed.....done, finito. Were down to 299 ships. Needs to be replaced immediately.
    It probably takes 3-5 years to built that class of ship.
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    The Ship cost 760mil. It will take 4 Billion to Fix.....Cut the loss. Build a new one ASAP. One Better all the way around.
    History does not long Entrust the care of Freedom, to the Weak or Timid!!!!! Dwight D. Eisenhower ~

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    Seems that America should take special interest in its aircraft carriers.

    From July 12 Forbes:
    A massive fire, likely caused by lax fire safety practices during pier-side maintenance, ravaged the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on Sunday, one of America’s 10 big-deck amphibious assault ships. These vessels are intended to be an integral part in holding the line against a resurgent China, and the loss of this multibillion-dollar ship—which appears likely—will be felt throughout the fleet. https://www.forbes.com/sites/craigho.../#117f4da376a9

    USS Bonhomme Richard.

    Reminds of the 1944 Port Chicago disaster during the height of WW2 in the Pacific. https://www.history.com/news/port-ch...n-70-years-ago

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    Update:

    Cleanup on USS Bonhomme Richard Continues as Ship’s Fate Remains Unclear

    USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) hasn’t moved from the pier-side spot where it caught fire on July 12 and burned for almost five days. The ship might not be moving anytime soon. Investigations into the fire have been extended until at least until December, USNI News understands, and with them any decisions about the fate of the ship.Still, with the ship still hot enough to need cool air pumped inside, the crew has settled into a new normal, spending their duty rotations helping clear out the amphibious assault ship and offload equipment that can be salvaged and put back into the Navy supply system.


    USNI News was one of the first news outlets to see the ship on the pier since the fire occurred. Reporters were not allowed on Bonhomme Richard itself and were not allowed to photograph the ship. The port side has already been repainted to protect the steel hull, with little damage visible from the pier aside from missing portions of the superstructure. The view from the Coronado Bridge – with the charred starboard side and flight deck visible from the highway – is a reminder of this summer’s blaze.


    Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the commanding officer of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 in San Diego, said during the tour that 25 firetrucks crammed onto the pier, more than 400 sailors rushed in to help, and assistance came in from all the federal and local fire departments – fighting a fire that included thick smoke, some explosions on the ship, and heat as high as 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.


    “The teamwork was absolutely amazing,” he said.
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    Navy to scrap USS Bonhomme Richard in wake of fire

    The Navy has decided to scrap an amphibious assault ship that was heavily damaged in a devastating July fire that raged for nearly a week as the ship was docked in San Diego.


    The decision to decommission the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard was made because restoring the Wasp-class ship would cost more than $3 billion and take 5-to-7 years to complete, Navy officials said Monday. According to published reports, dismantling the ship would cost about $30 million.


    “We did not come to this decision lightly,” Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite said in a statement. “Following an extensive material assessment in which various courses of action were considered and evaluated, we came to the conclusion that it is not fiscally responsible to restore her.”



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    Super sad about this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by US Conservative View Post
    Super sad about this.
    It is.
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