USS Bonhomme on Fire in San Diego

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July 12, 2020, 11:42 PM

kkina

quote:
I don't know anything about military ships, but will that intense heat weaken the steel too much?

Will the ship turn into basically what amounts to scrap metal?

Or can it be put back in service?

This could be only the second time in history that fire has ever melted steel.

July 12, 2020, 11:46 PM

OKCGene

quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
quote:
I don't know anything about military ships, but will that intense heat weaken the steel too much?

Will the ship turn into basically what amounts to scrap metal?

Or can it be put back in service?

This could be only the second time in history that fire has ever melted steel.

I didn't mean would it melt, I meant would it weaken the metal enough to make it un-seaworthy. Those ships take a beating in big bad storms, huge waves, etc.

I wonder if there was a lot of fuel on board? Fuel for the engines and for the aircraft?

July 12, 2020, 11:48 PM

kkina

^^I know. Was just going for some lightheartedness after a rough weekend.

July 12, 2020, 11:51 PM

jimmy123x

quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:
quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
quote:
I don't know anything about military ships, but will that intense heat weaken the steel too much?

Will the ship turn into basically what amounts to scrap metal?

Or can it be put back in service?

This could be only the second time in history that fire has ever melted steel.

I didn't mean would it melt, I meant would it weaken the metal enough to make it un-seaworthy. Those ships take a beating in big bad storms, huge waves, etc.

I wonder if there was a lot of fuel on board? Fuel for the engines and for the aircraft?

Yes, fire can make the ship, not worth fixing. Meaning the cost to fix it would far exceed building a new one. Fire is a Captain's worst nightmare. Steel is the most fire resistant ship building material, but once it spreads there are so many different types of combustables that it's nearly impossible to put out before major damage has been inflicted. I'm shocked at how far and fast it spread, while at the dock.

July 12, 2020, 11:52 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:
I don't know anything about military ships, but will that intense heat weaken the steel too much?

Will the ship turn into basically what amounts to scrap metal?

Or can it be put back in service?

USS Forestall.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

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The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...

July 13, 2020, 12:02 AM

Lefty Sig

I heard on the news speculation that the cause of the fire was related to welding.

Improper procedure regarding the issuing of a burn permit (safety requirement in industry, not sure how the Navy does it) is the usual reason.

Bad accident a former employee of mine was involved in was welding on a locomotive diesel tank. The welder cleaned the tank out with some solvent that mixed with the diesel instead of rinsing it out. And when things got hot, the thing blew like napalm. Welder was killed. My former employee who was an outstanding Electrician who had changed jobs to a different company and moved into management issued the permit. From what I heard the guilt ate him up and he wasn't the same again.

July 13, 2020, 12:16 AM

SeaCliff

Hope she can be fixed.
Hate to see her go to Mothball.

July 13, 2020, 06:57 AM

tacfoley

quote:
Originally posted by SeaCliff:
Hope she can be fixed.
Hate to see her go to ~~mothball~~ razor blades.

FIFY.

July 13, 2020, 08:37 AM

navyshooter

She's still burning.
I could smell the burning ship on my way to work today 15 miles away. HSC-3 (Helo squadron here on NAS North Island) started doing water drops on her around 0130

July 13, 2020, 08:50 AM

weiser09

I could smell it at Mira Mesa Blvd and the 15 this morning.

quote:
Originally posted by navyshooter:
She's still burning.
I could smell the burning ship on my way to work today 15 miles away. HSC-3 (Helo squadron here on NAS North Island) started doing water drops on her around 0130

July 13, 2020, 09:09 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by jljones:
Isn’t that the same one that was in that SEAL movie?

Yep. "Act of Valor" featured the Bonhomme Richard, and had some scenes filmed aboard it.

July 13, 2020, 09:52 AM

corsair

She likely a goner...the fire has spread to up and rearward, the island is now fully involved and the bridge and masts are destroyed.

USS Bonhomme Richard's Bridge Engulfed In Flames As Fire Rages Into The Night

quote:
During an evening press conference, Rear Admiral Philip E. Sobeck addressed reporters and stated that there are still 1,000,000 gallons of fuel onboard the vessel, but that is was located below where they thought the blaze emanating from. In addition, fireboats have been pouring water on the ship's hull in order to keep it cool in an attempt to maintain its integrity as the fire wore on. Two teams of firefighters were said to be fighting the fire on the ship, although now that its upper-most decks are engulfed, that may have changed.

....

The future of the vessel, which is in the middle of its service life, is likely more in question now after seeing that the fire is burning missionized spaces in its island, which also points to the fire now being far more widespread than originally indicated.

July 13, 2020, 10:17 AM

RHINOWSO

In my opinion, she's done for. Any fire that rages on a ship for hours and hours, spreading like it has, especially when there has been extensive MX ongoing (chemicals / equipment present that normally wouldn't be), I see it as catastrophic.

Of course the fire will go out and the Navy will 'assess the damage / causes' for many many months, then in a year or two there will be a small one liner "Navy scraps LHD damaged in massive fire" at the bottom of the webpage.

Too bad one of the Little Crappy Ships (LCS) in port didn't catch fire. It would likely save money if some of those burned to the water line.

July 13, 2020, 10:17 AM

feersum dreadnaught

holy shit. loosing a capital ship, pier side, in a non-combat fuck up...

this is unreal. And it is going to get worse.

July 13, 2020, 10:22 AM

Rightwire

That type of intense heat will cause steel to expand, warp, buckle, and eventually lose strength.

In a normal structure with steel framing it can expand enough to push over exterior walls, and eventually weaken to failure and roof collapse. I can only imagine what the steel inside that ship is doing when the fire is contained in a metal box.

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July 13, 2020, 10:29 AM

navyshooter

quote:
In my opinion, she's done for. Any fire that rages on a ship for hours and hours, spreading like it has, especially when there has been extensive MX ongoing (chemicals / equipment present that normally wouldn't be), I see it as catastrophic.

Yeah, I'm sure most of the hatches were blocked with power/water/air lines running though them for the MX being done. Hard to set up fire boundaries that way.

July 13, 2020, 10:32 AM

parabellum

quote:
Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:
And it is going to get worse.

Really? Well, don't stop at dramatic-sounding vagaries. Tell us about the gloom and doom to come.

Go ahead

Will the fire spread to other ships? Will the fire spread to the land and the entire state burns? Will this ship be double-destroyed? What?

July 13, 2020, 10:41 AM

wxdave

This is a nightmare scenario. Having been involved with damage control training during my time in the Navy, this fire goes beyond any scenario we ever envisioned.
I went through two extensive yard periods on Navy ships, and contractor welding was always a safety issue. Hot work permits notwithstanding, they often didn't have the required measures in place to prevent fires, particularly around highly combustible materials. Yard periods are really difficult for firefighting. Hoses and cables running through watertight doors with no way to quickly secure them if needed, minimal crew onboard, etc.
It's a sad day for the Navy. We can barely build the new ships we need, and now may lose a major capability for a while.

July 13, 2020, 11:03 AM

feersum dreadnaught

sorry. no, not going to spread to other ships.

Worse would be 1,000,000 gallons of fuel on board either adding to the fire, or leaking to San Diego bay.

Worse will be the cost of cleaning it up to salvage, on top of writing off a $750 million asset. Worse is piling this on top of the pitiful safety record of the US Navy over the past few years. Having major assets burn pier side was an unthinkable event in prior years. Sure, it can happen to China and Russia (and has), but not to us.

Worse is this seems to be another sign of the overall deterioration of professionalism, another step backward. Proper fire watch during welding is not hard to do. Neither is conning the ship away from contacts that are "constant bearing, decreasing range". I'm saddened to see failure of these types.