Posted on Dec 16, 2021
Engineer: Navy warship fire might be electrical, not arson
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"An electrical engineer who examined the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard after it was destroyed by fire last year testified Wednesday that it might have started with an electrical malfunction rather than arson.
Andrew Thoresen was hired by the defense attorneys representing the junior sailor accused of setting the fire aboard the ship. He told a military court during a preliminary hearing that he found highly combustible lithium ion batteries with their caps blown off and a copper cable with a melted end in the engine of a forklift, indicating it may have sparked the fire."
Andrew Thoresen was hired by the defense attorneys representing the junior sailor accused of setting the fire aboard the ship. He told a military court during a preliminary hearing that he found highly combustible lithium ion batteries with their caps blown off and a copper cable with a melted end in the engine of a forklift, indicating it may have sparked the fire."
Engineer: Navy warship fire might be electrical, not arson
Posted from navytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
UCMJ
UCMJ
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 1
Suspended Profile
Maybe I’m being overly cynical but I fought a lot of fires over a lot of years and found a handful that were accidental but helped along on purpose
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Interesting. The engineer's findings don't explain the "sabotage" of the fire stations though. Do ships not have sprinkler systems? Shame to lose the Bonnie Dick!
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SFC Michael Hasbun
One of the results of all of the investigations is a lot of firings of leaders on the ship. It seems like a lot of maintenance, training, etc... wasn't actually being done as reported. It's entirely possible that equipment hadn't worked in months or years...
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2021/10/20/36-officials-including-five-admirals-face-potential-discipline-over-bonhomme-richard-fire/
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2021/10/20/36-officials-including-five-admirals-face-potential-discipline-over-bonhomme-richard-fire/
36 officials, including five admirals, face potential discipline over Bonhomme Richard fire
The command investigation report’s “accountability” section recommends disciplinary action against 36 Navy officials, from the amphib’s enlisted ranks up to the former three-star head of Naval Surface Force Pacific.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
SFC Michael Hasbun - It's always the "Commands Fault". It had nothing to do with the Bonhomme Richard being about a decade late for a drydock refitting, or that the vessel had just come off a fairly intense operational tempo with 7th Fleet Forward, was short of fully qualified crew and officers, or a good part of the maintenance problems were caused by sticking a band-aid on problems that needed services not available without pulling it out of the Fleet.
The Navy has a bad habit of throwing the local Command under the bus for events that arose because of dictates from the Navy Department.
The Navy has a bad habit of throwing the local Command under the bus for events that arose because of dictates from the Navy Department.
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