quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
A news story yesterday (I think it was ABC) said there was ordinance onboard. I spent 26 years in the Navy and we always offloaded ordinance prior to yard periods.

I don't know if they had bad information or if something changed and they keep ordinance onboard now while in a yard period? Anyone else heard anything about ordinance being onboard?

I'm hearing all the ordinance was off loaded prior to.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
A news story yesterday (I think it was ABC) said there was ordinance onboard. I spent 26 years in the Navy and we always offloaded ordinance prior to yard periods.

I don't know if they had bad information or if something changed and they keep ordinance onboard now while in a yard period? Anyone else heard anything about ordinance being onboard?

LBTRS, ammo on a ship during a maintenance period is a huge no-no. Unfortunately, I have no info on what caused the explosion.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
I don't know if they had bad information or if something changed and they keep ordinance onboard now while in a yard period? Anyone else heard anything about ordinance being onboard?

Good grief, the news is hopeful they'll be a detonation....it's warship right? It has weapons and stuff....

Because she's been in maintenance for nearly 2-years, there's no ordinance or, weapons onboard. Like you and others have posted, all that stuff gets off-loaded prior. Presser yesterday, the admiral at the lectern said there's was small arms on board, port and shipboard security for the MA's.

quote:

Originally posted by VMI 1991:Unfortunately, I have no info on what caused the explosion.

Presser said it was a backdraft in lower compartments, which echo and reverberate through the ship spaces. Possibly detonation of pressurized tanks.

Ordnance my butt, small arms ammo for the security and watch-standing groups maybe, but what the press call ordnance could be anything.

Just curious, is a fire this something that one could expect from a ship undergoing this sort of maintenance?

Yes, Fire watches go on 24/7 during dry dock, or shoreside maintenance. So it’s not unusual for someone to be welding somewhere on a ship that size during maintenance.

I find it suspicious that a fire at the dockside could not be contained before it got out of hand. Also, the 'explosion' that supposedly set off the fire in the first place could have, of course, come from a variety of sources, some accidental and some intentional.

there may have been only ten or so guys on the whole ship on the weekend, during a maintenance period

Finally, is maintenance (welding, etc) normally done on a Sunday?

yup

————

WRT ordnance, I’ve been on ships that offloaded ammunition that was in magazines that were scheduled to be worked on or there would be hot work in adjoining compartments. It is a huge fucking deal to offload ammo. You can only do it at certain piers. And I’ve been on a few ships that when we were told hot work was taking place near a small arms magazine- we humped all the ammo out of he magazine and put it in another magazine elsewhere that had room. We did it to avoid going to a ammo pier and dealing with all that extra craziness. But that was 50 cal ammo and smaller...big gun ammo from 25mm and up goes to an approved ammo pier and is off loaded.

But you don’t know what the press is talking about. The explosions could be from tanks rupturing or other things bursting...and wasn’t ordnance at all.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
I don't know if they had bad information or if something changed and they keep ordinance onboard now while in a yard period? Anyone else heard anything about ordinance being onboard?

Good grief, the news is hopeful they'll be a detonation....it's warship right? It has weapons and stuff....

Because she's been in maintenance for nearly 2-years, there's no ordinance or, weapons onboard. Like you and others have posted, all that stuff gets off-loaded prior. Presser yesterday, the admiral at the lectern said there's was small arms on board, port and shipboard security for the MA's.

quote:

Originally posted by VMI 1991:Unfortunately, I have no info on what caused the explosion.

Presser said it was a backdraft in lower compartments, which echo and reverberate through the ship spaces. Possibly detonation of pressurized tanks.

If there was work being done on the ship’s low pressure air system and it was inoperable, then contractors may have brought pressurized air bottles on board for their pneumatic tools. If one of those got left behind when people evacuated the area and the bottle got hot enough, then it would certainly sound and feel like an explosion.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Just curious, is a fire this something that one could expect from a ship undergoing this sort of maintenance?

Yes, Fire watches go on 24/7 during dry dock, or shoreside maintenance. So it’s not unusual for someone to be welding somewhere on a ship that size during maintenance.

I find it suspicious that a fire at the dockside could not be contained before it got out of hand. Also, the 'explosion' that supposedly set off the fire in the first place could have, of course, come from a variety of sources, some accidental and some intentional.

there may have been only ten or so guys on the whole ship on the weekend, during a maintenance period

Finally, is maintenance (welding, etc) normally done on a Sunday?

yup

There are more than ten people in a duty section on an LHD, regardless if it was a weekend or maintenance period. An LHD has a crew of 1000 people so there would be 100+ people in a duty section depending on how many sections they are running.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Just curious, is a fire this something that one could expect from a ship undergoing this sort of maintenance?

Yes, Fire watches go on 24/7 during dry dock, or shoreside maintenance. So it’s not unusual for someone to be welding somewhere on a ship that size during maintenance.

I find it suspicious that a fire at the dockside could not be contained before it got out of hand. Also, the 'explosion' that supposedly set off the fire in the first place could have, of course, come from a variety of sources, some accidental and some intentional.

there may have been only ten or so guys on the whole ship on the weekend, during a maintenance period

Finally, is maintenance (welding, etc) normally done on a Sunday?

yup

There are more than ten people in a duty section on an LHD, regardless if it was a weekend or maintenance period.

In 2006, we were in a six section rotation. So, 160ish per duty section.

That is quite a fire there.

quote:

Because she's been in maintenance for nearly 2-years, there's no ordinance or, weapons onboard.

Even better for all you guys, no ordnance either!

LBTRS ,
You are more in the know than I. The last ship I was one was 270 foot long and we only had ten or so guys onboard during duty. I have no idea how many there are aboard that kind of ship.

.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A fire suppression system was inoperable when a blaze erupted aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, so sailors fought the blaze with water, a top Navy official said Monday.

Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck said the Halon gas system had been turned off because it was being worked on while the amphibious assault ship was undergoing maintenance work.

The fire erupted Sunday morning and continues to burn. It broke out in a lower cargo area where cardboard and drywall supplies were stored and firefighters initially fought it with water until they had to withdraw, Sobeck said. Halon is a liquefied compressed gas that disrupts the chemical process of a fire.

At least 57 people were treated for heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and minor injuries. Five remained in hospitalized under observation.

Sobeck said fire had spread throughout the ship Monday. The flames were burning plastic, cabling and other material but there was still a buffer of about two decks between the fire and fuel supplies.

“In the last 24 hours, 400 sailors have been on board that ship to make sure that, you know, we’re making every effort to save that ship,” said Sobeck, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3.

The fire sent acrid smoke billowing over San Diego, and local officials recommended people avoid exercising outdoors.

www.APnews.com/c5e84874680cebcaa2ecd7dfdcc785b2
.

quote:

Originally posted by sleepla8er:

The fire broke out in an area where cardboard and drywall supplies were stored and firefighters initially fought it with water until they had to withdraw.

Drywall and cardboard on a VTOL carrier?

Ok. . .

.

Hound Dog ~ My best guess is that during a disaster response, they send in the Marines with food and shelters. Maybe, this is part of the disaster load-out stored onboard???

Just a guess....

.

Other than stuff like cardboard and dry wall that’s stored aboard, what would burn inside a ship like that? I remember reading that after the Pearl Harbor attack and it was found that fire would spread by the burning paint on the walls (bulkheads?), the paint was all chipped off. I would think that preventing the spread of fire on a warship, or any ship for that matter, would be a major concern.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Other than stuff like cardboard and dry wall that’s stored aboard, what would burn inside a ship like that? I remember reading that after the Pearl Harbor attack and it was found that fire would spread by the burning paint on the walls (bulkheads?), the paint was all chipped off. I would think that preventing the spread of fire on a warship, or any ship for that matter, would be a major concern.

Wiring, insulation around wiring, insulation in-between spaces, chairs, furniture, all the paper work in said offices, computers, printers, video screens, bedding, linen, seals around the hatches, flooring, food, all the plastics and fiberglass in various spaces, all the wood in the well deck, the machinery brought aboard for maintenance, lubricants for said machines, hoses, duct work, etc....

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:

quote:

Originally posted by sleepla8er:

The fire broke out in an area where cardboard and drywall supplies were stored and firefighters initially fought it with water until they had to withdraw.

Drywall and cardboard on a VTOL carrier?

Ok. . .

I think someone misunderstood what was said...I believe they said "Tri-wall" not drywall. Tri-wall boxes are what we commonly use in the Navy for packing up equipment to be transported.

Tri-wall boxes are large, heavy cardboard boxes that can be put on a pallet for transporting. You may have seen them in your local grocery store, the big cardboard box that is full of watermelons?

... You mean naval vessels don't have interiors finished with professionally hung drywall, with some tasteful orange peel texture, and bullnose corners, all painted an inoffensively neutral shade of beige to make the space feel more open and attract homebuyers?

what a mess

sucks to see a valuable strategic asset like that in flames

i'm not a Navy guy but I'm beginningto think it may be a total loss

-------------------------

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
... You mean naval vessel walls don't have interiors finished with professionally hung drywall, with some tasteful orange peel texture, and bullnose corners, all painted an inoffensively neutral shade of beige to make the space feel more open and attract homebuyers?

You are thinking of the Air Force, not the Navy.

And you forgot the chocolate fountain, Xbox, and cappuccino machine. . .

I keep thinking, poor ship. Call me maudlin, but no ship deserves to burn to death.

Guess it's the Animist in me.