he fire that destroyed the Navy amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard last year was allowed to burn for days on end due to a series of individual and systemic failures — leading to a crew that was “inadequately prepared” to battle the blaze, an internal investigation by the service has found.
The report on the disaster is expected to be publicly released Wednesday. However, multiple outlets reported Tuesday that the document details widespread lapses in training, coordination, communication, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control.
Most shockingly, the report lists three dozen officers and sailors whose failings either directly led to the ship’s loss or contributed to it.
“Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” writes Vice Adm. Scott Conn, former commander of the US 3rd Fleet, according to USNI News. “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.”
Bookmarks