Farewell after the fire disaster

On 14 April, the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) was decommissioned by the Navy in a ceremony. The amphibious landing ship was heavily damaged in a fire last year. An explosion occurred on board during a harbour layover at the San Diego naval base and the subsequent fire destroyed large parts of the ship. Bonhomme Richard. It took five days for the Navy to announce that the fire had been extinguished. The subsequent assessment of the damage revealed that more than three billion dollars would have to be budgeted for the necessary repairs. The Navy then decided to decommission the ship.
The Bonhomme Richard was the third ship to bear this name. It was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and entered service in August 1998. Around 1100 soldiers served on the 257 metre long and 40,650 tonne displacement unit. In addition, it could carry up to 1900 marines for landing operations. The air component consisted of six AV-8 or F-35B fighter aircraft, four AH-1s, twelve V-22 Ospreys, four CH-53s and four UH-1Y Venoms.
The Bonhomme Richard is the first ship in the eight-unit Wasp-class, which is being decommissioned. Their intended task is to land marines during attack operations with helicopters, landing craft and amphibious vehicles
Shortly after its commissioning, the Bonhomme Richard took part in Operation Stabilise in East Timor in February 2000. During the attack on Iraq in 2003, it landed more than 1000 Marines in Kuwait. Its aircraft flew more than 800 missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Fire on board the Bonhomme Richard 2020

Text: mb; Photos: US Navy