Yeah, I guess thats what I was wondering, whether the fixed systems were less than fully operational due to the ships reduced operational status. But still quite curious about the path of fore-to-aft spread.
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Believe in one or more articles that fire suppression was under maintainence and perhaps not operable, and crew wasnât able to activate it before the fire ran them out. I think at sea any fire is trouble, but with full crew and operable systems, this much havoc may have been avoidable and detected earlier. Am curious as well about fore-to -aft spread. Armchair as usual.
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I bet Material Condition X-Ray was not even set and all the installed systems were tagged out for maintenance.
Anyone want to take that bet?
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I think you are on to something here. I gamble sometimes, but not taking that bet.
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Fore-to-aft spread and/or vertical spread of a shipboard fire is the nightmare of which all ships crews dread. When watertight integrity and horizontal/vertical compartmental practices are routinely adhered to by crew members on a 24/7/365 basis, the rapid spread of smoke, heat and fire via convection is drastically reduced. On Bonhomme Richard, undergoing renovations during a port availability period, it probably was not easy to close or seal many passageway hatches, compartment doors, vertical ladders, scuttles and vehicle ramps due to ongoing work - hence the avenue for spread of fire. With the same ship at sea with a full crew and all firefighting capabilities enabled, a different outcome than what has been experienced in San Diego should be expected.
Iâm a plank owner of USS Saipan (LHA-2), a similar hull form to Bonhomme Richard and for 18 months was a member of the firefighting party assigned to Repair Locker 2. Knowing how these types of ships are compartmentalized, I understand how easily the spread of fire, with mostly class A materials, could take place when most of the âguards are downâ during the availability period.
Letâs hope during the investigation about the source of the fire and how it was attacked and eventually controlled, learning lessons for ship officers, crews and contractors are shared throughout the naval and merchant marine fleets.
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One last supposition:
The fire watch at the source was very junior AND my gut says in a group qualification of less than 30 days prior.
No doubt some of the newbies had the weekend watch, but thinking they were supervised by a few âupper levelâ enlistees or lower level officers. It is not hard to get complacent in the shipyard on a weekend. Not saying that happened here, but has happened elsewhere. I share your gut feeling.
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B-roll footage:
Includes description of recent naval ship fires including one on LHD-7.
Latest information?
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A member of a website I am a member of used a drone to get overhead pictures. There are HUGE melted holes all up and down the flight deck and she is listing.
The USN is now unsure whether or not the BHR can be salvaged. Call the LANEYâŚ
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It would probably cost more to repair than scrap and build a new one. Anyone want to take bets on the path chosen?
Calculating the odds on that one are very difficult. Given the current madness I would say that a âpatrioticâ approach will be to rebuild regardless of cost as a means to show devotion to the âheroesâ who saved the ship and support the bestest most beautiful defense industry on the planet today.
Never let a disaster go to waste - unless someone of little consequence can be found to blame or the real cause is too embarrassing to talk about.
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Less than 5% of these flag waving patriots in the USA ever served their country. They just wave the flag and tell people to âhonorâ it. The heroes that saved the ship put out a fire for Godâs sake. I donât care if youâre Navy, Army, Marine, CG or US Postal Service just putting on a uniform doesnât make anyone a hero.Thatâs your job, you volunteered for it and got paid for it just like I did for every job I had in my life, including in the service of my country. Later, I lived thru occasional terrible seas at times to make sure the USA had at various times, cars, plows, oil and plastic shit from China. Does that make me a hero too? NO. If doing your job means you are hero does that make the guy that successfully made my Wendyâ s burger today a hero? I gave him a tip so to me he was my hero 
OK, done with that rant. Youâre probably right. If the right contractor with the right connections calls the right congressman theyâll probably repair it for a lot of money and have a grand ceremony afterwards.You just pay the bills.
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It appears it has an aluminum superstructure. How can there be enough left to repair?