Navy charges sailor with setting fire that destroyed warship

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Yahoo News

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Navy charged a sailor Thursday with starting a fire last year that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard docked off San Diego, marking the maritime branch's worst warship blaze outside of combat in recent memory.

The amphibious assault ship burned for more than four days. Left with extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage, the ship was later scrapped. Estimates to replace it ran up to $4 billion.

The sailor was a member of the crew at the time, Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson, said in a statement. The sailor was charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel, Robertson said. No name was released.

No other details were provided, and it was unclear what evidence was found or what the motive was.



Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/navy-charges-sailor-setting-fire-211723801.html

[zaj]

1. Holy crap! Repairs will cost about $3 BILLION and take 6 years!?!

Is this the most expensive arson event in world history?

On 30 November 2020, Navy officials said that attempting to repair the damage and return Bonhomme Richard to service would take between five and seven years and cost an estimated $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion. Instead, the decision was made to withdraw the ship from service and, following extensive component recovery, have her sold for scrap

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(LHD-6)#Disposal

[underpants]

3. According to UCMJ (as I understand it) the sailor can only be docked one months pay

This sailor is going to prison so I guess their money really doesn’t matter.

[Kaleva]

6. I believe that's non-judicial punishment. A court martial can dock his pay for the next 50k years

[underpants]

8. Ah!

Okay Thanks.

[Calista241]

15. If they find him guilty of hazarding a vessel

One of their potential punishments is the death penalty. It’s by far the most serious charge he faces.

[TomSlick]

23. The Navy takes a dim view of sailors sabotaging a warship.

If the evidence is there, I would expect a general court-martial to throw the book at him.

[COL Mustard]

27. She's Not Repairable. The Cost To Replace Will Be In The Billions, And Take Years.

[El Supremo]

2. Sabotage!

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[Archae]

4. USS Iowa 2.0?

Remember that fiasco?

[Strelnikov_]

9. Yes

Gotta wonder.

[Kaleva]

5. If you are going to commit a crime, might as well make it a memorable one.

[COL Mustard]

28. Like When That Ship Got Stuck In The Suez Canal

And one of the memes I saw was, You May Make Mistakes, But You Probably Don't Make Mistakes That We Can See From Space.

It was a satellite picture of the ship stuck in the canal.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. You could discover that the name has an illustrious US history

In the Revolutionary War the French loaned (gave) the United States a ship which was named Bonhomme Richard by the famous John Paul Jones and commanded by him in a sea battle.

John Paul Jones used it to take a much better armed British ship. This convinced the French to come in fully on the side of the US.

The current ship (fire damaged) is the third to bear the name.

It's easy to look things up in 2021.

[oasis]

17. I remember drinking with crewmembers of the "Bonny Dick" in the 60's.

I served aboard the USS Kitty Hawk(CVA-63) at the time.

[COL Mustard]

29. Thank You For Serving

Many people had other priorities...or found alternative Vietnams.

[oasis]

32. Thank you for that, and thank you for your service.

[twodogsbarking]

13. How do you set something like that on fire?

Asking for anyone who has tried to light a camp fire and failed.

[oasis]

18. Lots of highly volatile aircraft fuel, and ammunition is stored within. Plus Aircraft

tires will burn forever.

[haele]

20. Location and the fact that the ship was undergoing maintenance.

Fire started in a vehicle storage area under the hanger bay that was empty of vehicles but full of installation and repair parts and supplies. Lots of grease, oils, rags, plastic tarps, and consumable items that, even though the contractors are supposed to clean up, the area is still very flammable.
And since the ship was undergoing maintenance, a lot of hatches in the lower decks were open for venting purposes, and the main fire suppression system -halon- was turned off so if it inadvertently went off, it wouldn't kill people.

Haele

[twodogsbarking]

21. Thanks. Makes sense.

[Sapient Donkey]

25. ahh

[Demovictory9]

26. Thanks for explanation

[Mysterian]

14. Navy needs to do a good after action review

and try to design things so one kook sailor can't put the whole ship out of action.

[Aristus]

16. That's going to be a pretty big statement-of-charges.

I wouldn't want that on my form DD-214...

[jmowreader]

33. I don't think he'll get a DD-214

Willful hazarding is a capital offense. Since no one died I don't think they'll go there but with 57 injured people and a destroyed warship to his credit I think they'll give him life without parole.

[haele]

19. Three days of toxic air quality all over San Diego County

And Northern Baja. The whole area smelled like a transformer fire - metal, chemicals, plastics, and insulation. We could smell the smoke and toxic fumes from the fire 75 miles away up in the mountains two days later.
That's not to mention a ship with millions of dollars of high-tech equipment plus people's personal items onboard. Lucky for most of the crew members, their records were mostly backed up off the ship.
Back in my day, disgruntled sailors typically acted out by being a phantom pooper targeting officer's quarters.

Haele

[llashram]

22. wow

never followed up on this fire and damage...PO'd sailor huh...backstory on the sailor and possible cause of this arson? Was it revenge, retribution, terrorism attributable to a known cause, individual or domestic group, foreign? These days I question a lot. I know also, details may not be forthcoming since it is a military matter. And justly so. In my book.

[Sapient Donkey]

24. What happens in battle if it gets hit?

Even if these don't sink, they have to be written off? Maybe there would have been more effective damage control in the event of it being at sea?

[COL Mustard]

30. They're Designed With Fire Doors

That can be closed to keep the fire contained. In this case, as I understand it, the fire doors were blocked open so maintenance work could proceed.

[haele]

31. They were in a maintenance and repair period.

Their fire suppression system was down, hatches that would normally be closed were open or disassembled so spaces that were just painted or welded in could vent, and contractors/installers could get in and out to do work. Fire moves fast, going through open hatches, insulation, and contractor venting equipment that is typically cheap plastic or canvas tubing.
I used to do shipyard installations - the Bonnhomme Richard was basically in a shipyard status, but pier side at the Navy Base. And sadly, it was within a month of finishing up, so there were tens of millions of dollars lost - between all the work done as well as new equipment that had just been installed.

There was a minimal amount of crew onboard - just the duty section, which is not enough to fight a major fire.

Normally, a fire like this would have been fairly quickly contained onboard with some damage, but not a significant loss. However, in this situation, the fire was able spread quickly before enough damage control could be implemented, and once it got into the ship's not yet operational ventilation system (which was probably dirty due to being in a shipyard status), the fire could not be controlled.

Haele

[Hekate]

34. Thanks for the detailed explanations

What remains to be discovered is why one person did so very much in the way of sabotage,

[Sapient Donkey]

35. That makes a lot more sense.