The ship appears to have suffered extensive damage. I know there are many former sailors on the board. What’s the likelihood it will ever return to service?
Articles say burn temperature is around 1000°F. So there don’t seem to be any metals burning yet. That’s good news, if you believe the reports.
That is hot enough to seriously affect the strength of the steel, especially after prolonged exposure. Recall that the World Trade Center Towers failed because of heat damage weakening the structure, the steel didn’t need to melt to fail. I’d be surprised and impressed if it’s worth salvaging.
An answer is likely to head off into IMHO territory. I will say that considerations about whether restoration is economically feasible, versus technically feasible, are how the question is going to be answered.
Replacement cost on a LHD like that one, is roughly 1.5 billion USD, per the Wasp-class wiki. Then there’s booking the shipyard time to build it. Finally, there was recent commentary that the Marine Corps was looking to get away from the LHD-type of large vessel, or at least “complement them” with smaller vessels.
Bringing out of reserve, one of the other, earlier ships like USS Nassau or Peleliu, might be what happens. As both lack well decks compared to the Bonhomme Richard, my guess is that it would be so the USMC could embark air assets vs landing craft, like F-35. Which was a major goal of the 250 million USD renovation process that BR was just about ready to finish when the fire occurred.
As of this evening, it’s still burning. Navy reports the engineering spaces untouched. This is a big deal. However, lots of damage. Yesterday the forward portion of the superstructure collapsed. Being aluminum it more or less melted away. There are two gaping holes atop the portion that collapsed. Fire burned through. Either before or during the collapse the main mast crumpled. H-60’s from No. Island have been dropping water on it all day today and yesterday. Nobody knows yet what the interior looks like or where the fire originated. Flight deck remains pretty much intact. Divers attached heat sensors at several points on the hull. Officially there’s little concern w/regard to the fuel. Just coming out of dry dock no ammo onboard. The fire suppression system was not charged. I’m certainly not qualified to say whether it will be scrapped, but the longer it burns, the more likely it will be. Best guess fires won’t be suppressed for a couple more days. I’d post a pic taken from a helo today, but SD won’t let “new users” do so. I’m hardly new to the site, but I was not able to login on with the name/password I’ve had for years. If anyone wants a pic maybe I can get it to you via a PM.
That’s some bad boat, Harry.
(Okay, I couldn’t think of a turn on the “bigger boat” quote.)
BTW, I’m seeing four burn holes.
I didn’t know modern ships were that flammable.
Well, ships aren’t just pure metal. Lots of other stuff…coatings, cables, paper, flammable liquids…and that stuff all burns.
Question from me:
This is a fairly new-ish ship, isn’t it? I mean, compared to the WWII-era ship of the same name (Essex class IIRC) who had, as its captain, Adm George Morrison (father of yes, Jim Morrison, but apparently of no relation to the historian Adm. Samuel Morrison). The reason I ask is because a couple of days ago I looked up the (possible) connection between the two Admirals Morrison and noted the name of the ship…which just then popped into the news.
It is. Launched in '97.
The problem with aluminum is that it can burn. IIRC one of the British ships hit by an excocet missile in the Falklands war was basically a write-off once the superstructure caught fire. (HMS Sheffield - HMS Sheffield (D80) - Wikipedia )
The ship was getting an expensive refit for 10 more years of life. At this point my guess is the Bonhomme Richard is going to be scrap.
News stories say the fire started in a storage area with lots of cardboard and drywall supplies.
Maybe they could refit one of these guys.
While the reporters said drywall, what they were told was “tri-wall”, a type of heavy cardboard storage container the military often uses to store and ship supplies within. Flammable, like cardboard.
AIUI, the ship was getting ready or in the middle of a painting evolution, which is expected at the tail end of a shipyard period. Lots of paint, thinners, solvents, cloths: all of it flammable too.
I don’t think they’ll bother renovating a fire damaged, 26 year old ship. Especially if the Navy is moving away from that type of platform. Maybe they might bring back Peleliu from reserve status, despite it lacking a well deck?
There are a number of excellent articles on The Drive over in “The War Zone” section. Here they are, latest first. Lots of pictures and commentary. You’ll find some international trolls deep in the comments - move on to the next article.
Someone will never hear the end of this.
Thanks for those links. Great updates.
26 year old ship with damage, ok, if they don’t renovate it I’ll understand. But…
Did you all hear they are thinking about re-engining the current fleet of B-52’s, to extend their lives to 2050? Do you realize that would mean each of the planes are almost 90 years old when finally retired? My mind boggles…