Navy ship on fire

[Micdrow]

Prayers go out to my fellow shipmates and there family's and hope they get this fire under control quickly and safely

Explosion Reported as Firefighters Battle Blaze on Navy Ship

Picture from this link:

 

[Micdrow]

Not good, took snap shot from live image from ABC news channel camera

 

[Marcel]

Oef. Not looking good is an understatement. Thoughts are with the people on board. Hope no one was harmed.

 

[Gnomey]

Not good at all. Hope everyone is safe!

 

[Thorlifter]

Heard about it and jumped on here to see what was happening. Prayers for safety to all

 

[davparlr]

The latest I heard was that there was no injuries. I guess there were some minor injuries

 

[Micdrow]

The latest I heard was that there was no injuries. I guess there were some minor injuries

From what I read so far. 21 minor injuries with no deaths. Hoping it stays that way. Last I heard fire had burned for 9 hours. Not sure if out yet

 

[Marcel]

Hope you are right Micdrow. Ship is bad but people would be worse.

 

[cvairwerks]

Probably going to be a total loss. The forward island collapsed early this morning and as of right now, noon Central time, the fire is still burning. Injury count is now at 57.

 

[Micdrow]

Probably going to be a total loss. The forward island collapsed early this morning and as of right now, noon Central time, the fire is still burning. Injury count is now at 57.

Agreed, from what I have watched holes have appeared in the hull just under the flight deck in certain spots and now they report multiple fires through out the ship. So sad, Worst part is she just came off a 245 million dollar upgrade but at least no human life has been lost so far.

 

[Gnomey]

Ships are replaceable lives less so. So it's good news so far.

 

[syscom3]

What were they storing in there that would sustain a hot fire like that?

 

[Micdrow]

What were they storing in there that would sustain a hot fire like that?

I know the well deck on the ship I served on (USS Saipan LHA 2) had the inside of the walls of the well deck covered in timber similar to railroad ties. Guessing this one would have a similar layout. It was used as a buffer to the sides of the ship so if a landing craft hit the side of the ship it only damaged the wood and not the craft or the ships. If I remember right the wood was 3 to 4 inches thick and the wood ran was about 10 feet high and roughly a quarter the length of the ship. The ceiling is painted insulation to help reduce noise. If that caught fire a lot of timber to burn. Also I bet there is a ton of paint that is burning inside of there. I know when they made us paint we never stripped any thing down and just painted over it. I remember in some areas if you chipped the paint way down to the metal it was over an 8th inch thick. Fuel lines for helicopters, harriers, tanks and vehicles run through out the well deck as well. If any of those lines ruptured or cracked due to heat even with the pumps off there is still probably fuel in the lines at certain points due to the check valves to prevent reverse flow. Betting all of this is helping to fuel the fire. Since still in yards betting most of the hatches are stuck open as well due to all the hoses and such for the construction workers is hampering as well as you can't shut the hatches. Every time they where on board that was a problem.

Anyway just some of my two cents on the problems they are running into and helping to feed the fire.

 

[Micdrow]

This is just one side of the well deck. There is an exact second side on the other side of the wall. Picture from the book. Tarawa and Wasp class by Arnold Meiser

 

[Micdrow]

This is the one I served on. As you can see very similar in a lot of as specks. Picture from same book above.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Holy crap, I wonder if their fire suppression system was off line.

 

[cvairwerks]

The entire fire fighting system was offline being worked on at the time, it's been reported. Navy is now quietly making noise that they may not be able to save her in the long run.

 

[syscom3]

1,000-degree blaze continues to rage aboard Navy ship in San Diego

If history is any guide, the USS Franklin and Bunker Hill had sustained high temperature fires. Neither was ever returned to duty. Although that might have been due to the huge number of carriers in the fleet meant that those two were expendable for a peacetime navy.

 

[cvairwerks]

Saw an overhead photo last night that shows a hole in the flight deck big enough to drop an F-35 thru and a couple more that would swallow a full size pickup. Holes showed obvious melting of the structure.

 

[GrauGeist]

In several photos, you could see fireboats trying to cool the hull, but I suspect that may not have been enough to save her