Ravaged by fire, USS Bonhomme Richard bound for scrapyard, Navy says

[Zorro]

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Investigations continue into the cause of the fire, which burned for almost five days and smothered south San Diego County in noxious smoke

A fire that raged for almost five days in July has doomed the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard to the scrapyards, Navy officials announced Monday.

The ship will be decommissioned within a year and will be scrapped, a Navy official told reporters during a conference call Monday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The cost of repairing the ship was estimated to be between $2.5 billion and $3.2 billion, said Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage Monday. The cost and time involved were deemed to be too much by Navy leadership.

“After thorough consideration, the secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations have decided to decommission the USS Bonhomme Richard,” said Ver Hage, the commander of Navy Regional Maintenance Center.

Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2020-11-30/ravaged-by-fire-uss-bonhomme-richard-bound-for-scrapyard-navy-says

[aggiesal]

1. That's a shame, if for any other reason ...

it had a very cool name: Bonhomme Richard (Bone-ohm Ree-shard)

[elleng]

2. Now I'm feeling sad.

Bonhomme Richard or Bon Homme Richard, meaning good man Richard in French, may refer to: USS Bonhomme Richard, several ships of the United States. Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard, the French title of Poor Richard's Almanack, for which the ships were named. A pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin.

The Duc de Duras was built around 1761 and measured 998 tons; it was bought by the French in 1769 and used primarily as an armed transport ship until given to John Paul Jones in 1779. Jones renamed the ship Bonhomme Richard (Good Man Richard) to honor Benjamin Franklin, as that was his French nickname.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. John Paul Jones

Commander U.S. Navy, and later rear admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy.

Wow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones

[bluescribbler]

7. I did not know

Bon Homme Richard was Ben Franklin's nickname in France. It makes perfect sense.

[pfitz59]

3. Its Navy nickname is "The Bonny Dick"

Not PC, but so be it

[Aristus]

4. I don't think so.

I still run in to a Richard every once in a while who introduces himself as Dick. The nickname goes back for than four hundred years.

[Aristus]

5. The former command of the late Captain George Steven Morrison.

Father of The Doors' frontman, Jim Morrison.



Shown here on Jim's visit to the ship, with an uncharacteristic cardigan sweater, and probably the shortest his hair would ever be again.

[petronius]

8. That was the previous ship of the same name (CV-31)

The one that burned (LHD-6) was only commissioned in 1998.

Cool historical nugget, though -- thanks!

[Aristus]

9. Oh, thanks.

Sorry...

[Submariner]

13. As a lowlife electrician apprentice grunt fresh out of boot camp

I was ordered to climb the mast and change the red aircraft running light bulbs at the top of the the CV-31 mast. It was '66 in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Weird times.

The height didn't both me a bit then. Now heights freak me out.

[NNadir]

16. My father was a member of the first crew of CV-31. n/t

[TomVilmer]

10. The ship fire is a loss of at least a billion dollars ...

... if such a ship had any value than the ability of destruction.

[COL Mustard]

11. Well, We The Taxpayers Paid For It,

So I guess there will be another entry in the SCN (Shipbuilding and Construction, Navy) account in the FY22 or 23 budget.

[thenelm1]

12. Before decommissioning it should be officially renamed...

to the USS Trump and disposed of for the toxic scrap heap that it is now.

There have been a couple of USS USS Bonhomme Richards in the Navy, the first being John Paul Jone's frigate from the Revolutionary War period, and then an Essex-class aircraft carrier from WWII. Both served the country honorably. That the current one's career should end so ignominiously should be so with an appropriate name.

It would seem a suitable end - and removes any obligation of the Navy for any future ship baring this toxic scrap heap's name.

[Arne]

14. Remember when Trump had our ships running all over the place

and had no idea where they were? Fun times.

[thenelm1]

17. Given the fool being such a dumbass, one can only...

begin to imagine his concept of geography - someone should hand him a world map with no names and only the outlines of the boundary's of the various countries. It would likely be guaranteed comic gold. And very sad, because you know damned well that this idjit, who already couldn't find his ass with both hands, would make a royal cockup of it. (To improve the odds, so to speak, give him a similar map of just the US. The result would likely be the same.)

It would funny as hell though. Particularly when you know the suck ups would praise his brilliance.

[aggiesal]

15. Great idea, how about ...

Mauvais Homme Donald ?

Hope this translates correctly.