Long Chain of Failures Left Sailors Unprepared to Fight USS Bonhomme Richard Fire, Investigation Fin

[rangerrebew]

Long Chain of Failures Left Sailors Unprepared to Fight USS Bonhomme Richard Fire, Investigation Finds
By: Sam LaGrone and Gidget Fuentes
October 19, 2021 1:25 PM • Updated: October 20, 2021 6:03 AM

Sailors evacuated from USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

A cascade of failures – from a junior enlisted sailor not recognizing a fire at the end of their duty watch to fundamental problems with how the U.S. Navy trains sailors to fight fires in shipyards – are responsible for the five-day blaze that cost the service an amphibious warship, according to an investigation into the July 2020 USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) fire reviewed by USNI News.

The investigation into the fire aboard Bonhomme Richard, overseen by former U.S. 3rd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Scott Conn, found that the two-year-long $249 million maintenance period rendered the ship’s crew unprepared to fight the fire the service says was set by a crew member.

“Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” Conn wrote in his investigation, which was completed in April and reviewed by USNI News this week.
“In the 19 months executing the ship’s maintenance availability, repeated failures allowed for the accumulation of significant risk and an inadequately prepared crew, which led to an ineffective fire response.”

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/19/long-chain-of-failures-left-sailors-unprepared-to-fight-uss-bonhomme-richard-investigation-finds

[PeteS in CA]

Once upon a time, USN damage control was world class, to the point of saving major ships from fires and damage that would have sunk other navies' similar ships. I wonder how many training hours USS Bonhomme Richard's crew had concerning racism and sexual harassment, and other Prog obsessions.

[rangerrebew]

I wonder how many training hours USS Bonhomme Richard's crew had concerning racism and sexual harassment, and other Prog obsessions.

The Milleyites have avoiding talking about this very issue by avoiding talking about it - period.  People think because it isn't discussed everything is hunky dorey in training but those of us who have been there can tell something has intervened to lower the quality of training in the Navy.