MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION & THREE ALARM FIRE ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD: SAILORS HOSPITALIZED

By
Jennifer Lawrence
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Firefighting boats spray water onto the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard as smoke rises from a fire onboard the ship at Naval Base San Diego, as seen from Coronado, California, U.S. July 12, 2020. REUTERS/Bing Guan

Sunday the USS Bonhomme Richard experienced a large explosion and a three alarm fire that sent 21 soldiers to the hospital Heavy.com reported. The “assault vehicle” will likely burn to the water according to Tim Arvier a reporter for @9newsAus.

According to the San Diego Fire Department’s Twitter the first call came in around 9 am PST. In another tweet from the SDFD they reported that the next alarm came in at 9:09 AM and the third alarm was called in at 9:51 AM.

Stars and Stripes reported “The cause of the fire was under investigation. It wasn’t immediately known where on the 840-foot amphibious assault vessel the blast and the fire occurred.” Admiral Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations announced that all on board at the time had been accounted for. According to Stars and Stripes “The 23-year-old ship has the capacity to deploy and land helicopters, smaller boats and amphibious vehicles.”.

Early this year, almost three months to the day (April 11 2020), the same kind of ship experienced a very similar incident while being assembled in Shanghai China for the Chinese Communist Party. It is unclear if the two events are related or just an odd coincidence.

According to the globaltimes.cn “ China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship reportedly caught on fire on Saturday at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Although thick smoke was seen on the ship, sources in the know said the accident was not significant and will not wield any major impact on further construction.”

According the reports that came out of China at the time, it seems the USS Bonhomme Richard has sustained much more damage. Reporter John Dissauer tweeted that the fire could continue on for days.