Seaman Acquitted of Arson in Bonhomme Richard Fire | What Went Wrong & How the Ship Was Lost

Seaman Acquitted of Arson in Bonhomme Richard Fire | What the Navy Did Wrong With the Fire

What's Going On With Shipping?
October 4, 2022

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University and former merchant mariner - examines the acquittal of Seaman Ryan Sawyer Mays on the charge of arson for allegedly starting the fire that led to the loss of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6). This video also looks at the recent story by ProPublica on the fire, the punishments against other Navy and Department of Defense personnel, and what were the underlying issues that resulted it the loss of the ship.

#bonhommerichard #usnavy #fire

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[robertf]

I'm reminded of another case where the Navy sought a scapegoat and dragged the name of a good sailor through the mud, the investigators thinking they could get away with it because the man was DEAD. Petty Officer Clayton Hartwig, Gun Captain, Center Gun, Turret Two of USS Iowa (BB 61.)

Sal, my last assignment was to a ship very similar to the BHR when we took her through an 18 Month long overhaul. Many of the conditions found in the BHR were also found in my ship, and yes we did have fires aboard. The difference was we had people who were on the ball and on those two occasions the people making the discovery of the fire FOUGHT IT from the outset after making the report. In both cases they had the fire confined and well on the way to being out BEFORE the Duty Section could get the Fire Party manned and ready.

Many of the same problems found in BHR were discovered, discarded cardboard packing cases and "peanuts" along with broken dry wood pallets in "Lower V, " sections of Firemain isolated and out of service and the Halon 1301 systems in the Boiler Room and other spaces disabled for maintenance and upgrade.

Another difference was we had an aggressive fire prevention program that cleared the debris from "Lower V" as soon as the problem was found and recognized. We also TRAINED every damned day in firefighting, the ENTIRE duty section was the Fire Party. Even though we had nearly 1/3rd of the crew on detached duty to attend schools or provide support to the Shipyard (Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Day Care if you can believe that) we had everyone else on a 3 section watch rotation, not 4 or 5 sections as BHR seems to have had.

The more I learned about the backstory of the BHR fire, the more appalled I became. It shouldn't have happened as it did and as a retired Petty Officer First Class (Surface Warfare) I have to place responsibility for the loss of BHR squarely on the Chain of Command from the Leading Petty Officers through the Ship's Commanding Officer and up through the Amphibious Group Commander to Surface Forces Pacific (3 star Admiral I think.)

Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) is being scrapped as I write this as is MY old ship, Nassau (LHA 4.) Nassau had been in the Reserve Fleet (mothballs) when BHR was burned out and there had been discussions at the Navy Department about possibly reactivating this tired 40 plus year old ship to replace BHR at least temporarily.

Sorry for the rant my friend, but this krap really angers me.

[robg]

"The navy's fixation on this sailor takes away from the bigger issue". I think that was the point of the prosecution.

[matthewbeasley]

This is such an echo of the turret explosion on the Iowa. By going after an individual sailor, the Navy is hopeful you're going to forget about the massive failings of the Navy.

[jayvanwyck]

As a US Navy Retired Sailor, it is not uncommon to find the quick scapegoat.

[Idahoguy]

The Navy has a tradition of picking a scapegoat. The BH loss was caused by the BH’s command irresponsibility in mismanaging a ship

[rickymherbert]

I have had two fires on board vessels I was supervising in drydock; one an engine room where oil soaked lagging was ignited by welding nearby, the other was a winch room fire during installing new winches. The engine room had the potential to get out of hand as we had to "chase" the fire up the lagging as the lagging was opened up to fight the fire. Innitally they were trying to use CO2 but bring hoses to bear kept the fire under control and eventually extinguished.
The winch room fire was quite interesting; I arrived on the scene to find the yard supervisor arguing with one of the installing engineers about what medium to use to as the engineer was concerned about the electronics they were put in. Fire main was pressurised, so whilst they were getting into a more heated debate I got the ship's crew to rig a hose and a spray nozzle to put the fire out. Yes, the new electronics were damaged but at least the fire was confined and then put out.
It did knock a hole in my budget, delayed the ship's departure by about a week but at least I wasn't up to my eyeballs in paperwork trying to defend the lost of the ship.

[soupwizard]

You are 100% right about the command structure: It was a commissioned vessel with a crew, the Captain was clearly aware his crew had failed 14 consequential fire drills and should have taken action to remediate (if the XO didn't execute on that, relieve him, etc). Captain should have been convicted of Dereliction of Duty, and the Captain's commanding officer should also have been severely punished for not ensuring his direct report was following up and fixing this critical issue.

[scanrock]

As someone who has a degree in Fire Protection and have been a member and officer of a suburban Volunteer Fire Dept for over 45 years Thing that gets me the most is 1) No waterline for fire protection on U.S. Navy piers on a Naval Base and 2) that the on base Professional Fire Fighters were not trained in shipboard firefighting and that they did not have adapters and a pre-plan for water suppy . I am amazed at the total lack of fire protection on U. S. Government Bases which I had allways assumed that fire protection would be top level design and capabilties boy was I wrong .

[mmi]

The crime was not in how the fire started but in how the fire was 'fought'.

[Dennis-vhtz]

About time. This one of very few pieces of good news I've seen about the Bonhomme Richard fire. The ship's motto, "I have not yet begun to fight", is an unintentionally perfect description of the (lack of) fire fighting effort by her officers and crew.

[laurawerner]

This prosecution was in keeping with the Navy's finest traditions: find an enlisted scapegoat, because officers couldn't _possibly_ have been at fault. It reminds me of the USS Iowa turret explosion in 1989, when they claimed a gunners mate triggered the explosion in order to commit suicide, to distract from the fact that his superiors were conducting crazy experiments with "supercharged" powder bags.

[k]

His decision to go with a bench trial was very smart. I had a family friend who lost his first (and only) command after a drunken fisherman rammed his DD leaving port. The BHR captain lost a $3B ship and didn't get relieved.

[gregculverwell]

Happy that justice has prevailed. What a surprise!
It's obvious that the guilty wear a lot of (undeserved) decoration on their shoulders.

[phillyrube]

Sal, thanks for bringing this to light. Once again big Navy smacks down Seaman Timmy while all the officers write themselves up for Legions of Merit. So many things wrong. One of the things I blame is the idiocy of the ESWS program. When I qualified, one of the first Navywide, there were distinct PQS standards to be met. Now you sit in a class and get your ticket punched. No fire stations? There was a huge fire pump system across the pier in the form of a pair of DDGs. Why were they not used? Jumper to an AFFF hicap station and like you said, flood Lower V. Instead, the gundecking ESWS crowd abandoned ship. Then to blame a poor non rate just like the hosejob they pinned on Clayton Hartwig. At least the defense had the forethought to be tried by a judge:. Going to a full court martial would have found him guilty. No officer would acquit him for fear of their own career.
Dr.. Sal, stay on this..

[MarcoGarcia-blww]

Yes Steve, the Navy failed miserably on this event, happy this sailor was found not guilty. Good job young man. The Captain should be held responsible.

[almirria]

Just for this case, it has always been about protecting the ring knocker officers & blaming the lowest ranking person [who should not have been able to defend themself against such charges] . All those who share responsibilty have walked away for the most part scott free [oh there were a few harsh words posted, but that is all] and the co of the ship was with it till she was turned into razor blades & then allowed to retire with full benifits.

[themerchantofengland]

A USAN Officer once asked a Royal Navy Officer, "What's it like working alongside the biggest Navy in the world?" He answered with his own question, "What's it like working with the best Navy in the world?" Both navies are trained to a high level, but things do still go wrong. Thanks, Sam, for another great upload.

[bladewiper]

I am sure that E1 is not the only young person no longer interested in being in the navy.

[fortusvictus]

The USS Bonhomme Richard is a painful metaphor for the state of the nation. Neglected and on fire, and people just standing by wondering if it is even worth fighting/taking risks to save.

[dougbourdo]

Again, Spot-On Sal. I never had the honor of military service. I was a LEO for 28+ years. Even in law enforcement, if one of my Deputies had a major fail in his performance, I worked to resolve that issue. We didn't merely assign blame & set up a gallows. I have seen too many times in other industries where someone "junior" gets tagged inappropriately with a scarlet letter so the higher-ups can point an accusing finger at them rather than at THER failures. Kep up the great work at keeping all of us mere mortals informed in the world of seafarers.