George Washington Fire Fallout

With a $70 million dollar repair bill, a deployment on a strict schedule, a bit of irresponsible behavior by a few of the crew, and a political spotlight coming from a major ally in the far east, and the result can't be too surprising. The Navy took action today in the George Washington fire.

The Navy’s Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. Robert F. Willard, in his final endorsement of an investigation into the fire, directed that Capt. David C. Dykhoff and his executive officer be relieved of command.

Dykhoff was fired “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards,” Navy officials said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Vice Adm. Thomas J. Kilcline Jr. pulled Dykoff from command and also fired the ship’s executive officer, Capt. David M. Dober, “for substandard performance,” according to the statement.

It was probably a good day to be fired, because tomorrow after 10:00am the Navy story everyone will be talking about will be the DDG-1000. By making a statement in the afternoon on the west coast the eve before a major Congressional pissing contest on shipbuilding, this story gets at best a 12 hour news cycle and then disappears.

According to the Navy Times article the combination of unauthorized smoking and improperly stored combustibles started the fire. The full report was not released, but the article mentions some of the report might be released in a few weeks. We hope so.

It is an exercise in futility to speculate what the contributing factors were on the ship itself, only the report could tell us. Were the inspection procedures being followed properly? Was there a breakdown in quality of leadership for inspections with this specific area of the ship? Was there a ship wide systematic problem that led to the change of command? Why wasn't a DC party able to quickly address a fire started by a cigarette before it consumed over 80 spaces of the ship? Lets be serious, if you can't quickly put out a cigarette, how the hell can you expect to put out a massive fire caused by an anti-ship missile consuming multiple decks and burning white hot on rocket fuel? There are plenty of questions, but only the report could tell us the answers.

The Navy continues to send signals to its commanding officers that perfection is demanded, anything short of perfection and the CO can be gone. Actually, that isn't completely true, the only time we ever see this type of perfection demanded by anyone over the rank of Captain is when it involves women, what we call the Tailhook rule. Accidents are not allowed, ever, and every major incident is always the COs fault, always. If an accident happens on your watch, kiss your career goodbye. It's a tough topic to speculate beyond the generic signals, because the Navy never explains why it takes the actions it does, meaning everyone in the Navy is left to speculate the same observations we list above.

In this case, the CO and XO are almost certainly not the smokers who contributed to the fire, but several members of the chain of command and crew would have been responsible for stowing flammables and not smoking in an unauthorized area. The Navy should put as much public humiliation on those folks responsible as they do on the officers. Failure to do so gives disgruntled sailors a lot of power, the ability to 'accidentally' screw up and insure a CO's career is killed.

GW Timeline Adjusted Again

The timetable for the George Washington relocating to Japan is a moving target, and was moved again today.

"Ongoing repairs" will delay the aircraft carrier’s arrival "past August," a Commander U.S. Naval Forces Japan release stated. A "transit plan" to Yokosuka "has not been finalized," it said. Navy officials did not give any specifics on when the ship would officially take its place as the Navy’s Forward-Deployed Naval Forces’ aircraft carrier...

Repairs to George Washington are scheduled to be finished in "late August" . But a timeline for the Pacific transit remains unknown.

It will be interesting to see whether the Navy decides to shift deployment schedules to accommodate the delays.

Observing the Fire Damage to USS George Washington

The Navy deserves a lot of credit how they have handled the USS George Washington (CVN 73) fire. They have been forthcoming with information and providing an abundance of pictures. Below are some unclassified images and details from the recent fire on the USS George Washington (CVN 73).

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The USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) will be taking part in RIMPAC, which runs from June 29th to July 31th. In other words, the rotation of the GW to Japan will be on hold for a few months. Hopefully the repairs can be completed by August.

It is worth noting that even with this accident, the US Navy has enough carriers to meet all contingencies throughout the summer even with the damage to the GW. That is noteworthy, because it highlights the difference between having eleven carriers and ten carriers under the fleet response plan. Accidents do happen, it is always good to be prepared.

George Washington Fire Update and Pictures

This is the statement released by the Navy on Friday.

Navy officials have nearly completed a comprehensive damage assessment following the shipboard fire aboard George Washington that occurred on May 22 while at sea. The source of the fire has not yet been determined, but the fire was located in a ventilation intake/exhaust trunk that led from the lower decks of the ship to a ventilation port on the ship's outer hull several decks above. In addition to providing a ventilation path for non-critical machinery components that are located below the ship's waterline, the trunk has numerous piping and cabling runs located within it.

Damage to USS George Washington is primarily electrical in nature with some associated structural and mechanical repairs required. Fire and heat affected electrical cabling and components running through approximately 80 spaces of the more than 3800 total spaces on the carrier. The heat generated by the fire damaged a small portion of interior structural plating which will require either repair or replacement. Piping and related valves that were exposed to heat from the fire have been inspected and will require a minimal amount of repairs. Electrical cables in the vicinity of the intake/exhaust trunk were damaged and will require repair and in some cases, replacement.

Additionally the following photo's were released. Click each for details courtesy of the Navy.

From the limited picture angles, the repairs are going to be time consuming. The wiring and piping in particular is not going to be easy or fast to replace. The rest of what we are seeing here can be repaired much faster

George Washington Fire Fallout

The USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) is at sea, and was reported to be heading towards Pearl Harbor to swap crews with the USS George Washington (CVN 73). Looks like those plans have been put on hold while the Navy takes assessment of the fire damage. Navy Times is reporting:

The carrier Kitty Hawk, which was on its way to Hawaii to swap crews with the carrier George Washington, now plans on visiting Guam while officials on the GW assess the extent of a fire that broke out several days ago.

“There’s no change to our long-term schedule and much is still contingent on what the assessors find on the George Washington,” Capt. Todd Zecchin, Kitty Hawk’s commanding officer said. “But in the meantime we are going to pull into Guam and hopefully by then we will know the rest of the way ahead.”

While Navy officials assess the damage on GW, the Kitty Hawk continues to operate in the Western Pacific and will make the Guam port visit in “mid-June,” he said.

Right now there are too many questions without answers to bother speculating, although the time line here gives the impression that over the next two weeks the answers will be forthcoming. There is only one aspect to the entire Kitty Hawk - GW swap that bothers us. If the Navy is mandated by law to keep 11 carriers in service, and the House bill for FY09 makes this point emphatically in regards to the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) for 2011, why is the Navy mothballing the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in July as the Navy Times article suggests at the end of the story.

Looks to us like the Navy is in too much of a hurry to decommission the Kitty Hawk, and should probably wait until after the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) is commissioned.

USS George Washington Fire Update

With the USS George Washington (CVN 73) pulling into port yesterday we are starting to get some early details on the events that unfolded during the fire. The Navy's official website is running a story regarding four crew members who were trapped for 4 hours behind the flames. We are not certain, but we got a tip this picture is of Senior Chief Damage Controlman(SW/AW) Dwight Hill discussed in the story.

Extensive efforts were involved to rescue the four Sailors in question, including maintaining communication.

Electrician's Mate Fireman Jase Exum, one of the four Sailors trapped, said the lack of communication in the beginning is what scared him the most.

"I tried to use the sound-powered telephones, but I could not tell if anyone was hearing me," he said. "When the captain got on the 1MC (shipwide announcing system), it was a relief, knowing they knew we were still alive, and they were still out there trying to get to us."

Exum said that the training he had received helped him to remain calm.

"I really did not know what was going to happen, but I was the only one of the four of us that were trapped to go to Damage Control school," Exum said. "I explained what was happening around us, why they lit off fire extinguishing agents to keep us safe. I was trained as a Damage Controlman and I was really glad that I was because that knowledge kept me calm. We could have put ourselves in a lot worse danger if I didn't know certain things -- should we go now, should we wait, should we try to make it up on our own."

The word "shipmate" was used and remembered throughout the day.

Clearly these sailors won't need an essay to define the term once they get settled in the Pacific.

The Navy is doing a very good job handling this incident. I understand there is some frustration with families, communication with families can always be better, but what we are observing is professionalism at every level, in the moments of crisis and afterwards... exactly what we expect and want to see.

The Navy Times is also reporting on the GW fire, and with this quote, our concerns appear confirmed, this was not a small fire.

The fire, which the skipper described as “significant,” had started near an auxiliary boiler space and spread through a cable supply and exhaust trunk. Capt. Dave Dykhoff, George Washington’s commanding officer called it “probably the worst one I’ve been involved with.”

We are not going to speculate damage, no point. We are confident the reporters are going to uncover every angle of that story over time. What we keep thinking is how good a job the crew did. We are getting only small details of the event, details like 15 firefighting teams, crew members trapped for 4 hours, and details regarding the smoke and heat in the area located near No. 3 pump room. There really isn't a lot of room to fight fire back there...

As we think about how the smoke and heat would have just consumed those spaces, we think it is pretty incredible nobody was seriously injured.

Picture of the Day: Fore on the George Washington

There are still no details, but with the fire near Hanger Bay 3 the fire appears to be larger than some assumed originally. We learn through the photography captions on Navy.mil the fire spread through the wiring spaces. These two pictures stand out among those on published to date.

Fire on USS George Washington Yesterday

The Navy is reporting there was a fire yesterday on the USS George Washington (CVN 73). I shouldn't need to emphasize how serious fire is taken aboard any ship, much less a nuclear aircraft carrier.

At approximately 7:50 a.m. local time on May 22, a fire was detected in the vicinity of the aft air conditioning and refrigeration space and auxiliary boiler room aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).

The fire spread to several spaces via a cableway and caused extreme heat in some of the ship spaces, but it was contained and extinguished by the crew without any serious injuries to personnel. It took several hours to completely contain and extinguish the fire.

The ship had been conducting a routine replenishment at sea in the Pacific Ocean with USS Crommelin (FFG 37)when smoke was observed and an emergency breakaway was initiated.

There were no serious injuries. Twenty-three Sailors were treated for heat stress and one Sailor was treated for first degree burns. The ship's crew was at general quarters for approximately 12 hours.

Most important point: No one was seriously injured. The rest can be fixed.

Steal From Me, I Steal From You

CDR Salamander has a YouTube video up today from a little known incident that occurred a few hours before a very well known incident. Wikipedia reminds us of that fateful day: April 19th, 1989 .

On 19 April 1989, an explosion ripped through Iowa's number two 16-inch (406 mm) gun turret, killing 47 crewmen. A sailor quickly flooded the #2 powder magazines, annular space and powder flats, likely preventing catastrophic damage to the ship. The cause of the explosion, though never determined with certainty, is generally believed to have been static electricity igniting loose powder.

What is less well known is that this little incident happened a few hours earlier. CDR highlights the video commentary at about 1:45. The sailor makes a good point.

The comments at CDRs are great, nothing like getting 'the rest of the story' from folks who were there. In reading those comments, and knowing so many other people who were there that day, it amazes me how small the world has become with the internet.

Speaking of small worlds and folks who were there, how about a bit more regarding the rest of the story. The CO of the Iowa that day was Captain Fred Moosally. who got a lot of criticism for how he handled the Iowa incident. Politics combined with accidents tends to do that, fairly or unfairly, and ultimately the event cost Captain Moosally his career in the Navy. Today Captain Moosally serves as president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors, which is responsible for delivery of Freedom (LCS-1), and is also responsible for the C4ISR systems on board the first National Security Cutter.

It's a small world.

USS Bonefish (SS-582) Fire: Remembering The 20th Anniversary

There are stories behind the stories, and it usually takes awhile for the stories to get told. The internet is very good at this, and in the context of Naval History, the internet is excellent for telling stories like this:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the fire in the battery well aboard USS BONEFISH (SS-582), approximately 160 miles east of Mayport, FL, while the USS JOHN F KENNEDY (CV-67), the USS CARR (FFG-52) and the BONEFISH were conducting training operations together.

As a result of the posting before, the aircrewman aboard the SH-3 Sea King from the KENNEDY has met with me and described the initial chaos from about 30 feet above the water, as he hoisted submariners to safety. He left a comment letting me know the record of the reports I had heard almost 20 years ago were not completely accurate. I was able to find and contact the then XO of the BONEFISH, who graciously spent his time typing up and forwarding his recollections.

Seven great reads in one place, Bravo Zulu xformed. Additional pictures available here.

The Story Behind the Story

In observing the recovery of the two F-15Cs that crashed earlier this week in the Gulf of Mexico, I found a few bits of the rescue interesting. As David Axe notes, the USAF used a CV-22 and a AC-130 to help locate the pilots. He makes some excellent points about both platforms in that regard.

While it is unclear if they were useful in the recovery, the story of the survivor is also interesting.

Lynn Haven boat captain Thomas Niquet said he just followed the trail of wreckage Wednesday to rescue an Air Force pilot downed in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We started finding pieces of the plane, then we found the life raft, and about 30 minutes later, we found him,” Niquet said. “He still had his sunglasses on, man. I don’t know how they do it, but those sunglasses don’t come off for nothing.”

The story goes on to highlight another rarely discussed platform recovered the pilot from this civilian boat, the FSF-1 Sea Fighter sent a RHIB over to recover the pilot, and eventually support his transfer to the Coast Guard and medical attention.

BZ to these civilians of the Nina who assisted in the rescue of this airman.

We find it interesting it is usually this type of non-mission specific context the Sea Fighter finds itself into the news. Duncan Hunter must be frustrated, but at the end of the day this is either the most overrated platform in the Navy, or the most underutilized. Either way, right place at the right time is appropriate to describe its role here, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico for a downed airman is a fast way to hypothermia, speed means a great deal in surviving exposure to the sea, and minutes can mean life or death in too many sea regions during the winter.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of 1st Lt. Ali Jivanjee. Excellent coverage here and here.

Air Force Times also covers the story from top to bottom here.

5th Fleet Focus: Truman Loses 2 F-18s

Hours after the news breaks of a confrontation between the US Navy and IRGC in the Straits of Hormuz, this news is breaking as well.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two U.S. Navy fighter jets plunged into the Persian Gulf Monday, after what initial reports suggest was a mid-air collision, a defense official said.

All three pilots ejected safely from the planes and were headed back to the USS Harry Truman, the aircraft carrier they were operating from, according to the official, who requested anonymity because the information was preliminary and not yet released publicly. No other details or the crash were released.

One of the F-18 jets that crashed held two pilots, the other held just one.

The crash occurred at about 1 p.m. EST.

The Truman lost some great airmen during workups for the deployment, thankfully everyone survived this latest accident.

SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) Returns to Action

Earlier this year, the Spanish frigate SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) ran aground during its participation in the Neptune Warrior 07 exercise off Scotland. Last week it was reported she has almost completed repairs.

There is still no report regarding what happened, and the official cost of repairs has also not been released.

She is expected to return to full duty in January.

Originally SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) was planned to take over as flagship of SNMG1 replacing the USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), but clearly that did not happen. The availability of SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) for 2008 will give Spain three deployable F100 frigates in 2008, including SPS Alvaro de Bazan (F101) and Almirante Juan de Borbon (F102).

SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) Listing, Returning to Port Sunday

There is some news coming from Neptune Warrior 07 regarding the Spanish frigate SPS Blas de Lezo (F103). Apparently the frigate ran aground off Scotland, and has been limping back to Spain, with a slight list and in rough seas at 6-8 knots. GoGibraltarsite has the latest news.

Following last weeks "Slight Grounding" of the SPS Blas de Lezo (F103) during its participation in the "Neptune Warrior" exercise off Scotland the news followed that things were a bit more serious than first thought. A couple of days ago it was reported in the Spanish press that the ship was making very slow progress back to Ferrol (where it will arrive 30/09/07 through rough seas at approximately 6 to 8-knots with a 'slight' list. Now reports from the same sources suggest that the damage sustained during the incident will cost in the region of €7-8m to repair but the bad news is that the new parts that are required will take nearly 34-weeks to manufacture!

This now throws into doubt the Flagship status of SNMG1 which the SPS Blas de Lezo was due to assume in November taking over from the USS Bainbridge (DDG 96). Now with the SPS Alvaro de Bazan (F101) engaged on qualification trials at Rota, but the logical replacement, the SPS Almirante Juan de Borbon (F102) in Ferrol on maintenance and the SPS Mendez Nunez (F104) not fully operational it puts the Spanish authorities in a bit of a position.

If anyone is able to get a photo post a link in comments.

Fire on Cruiser in Drydock

First reported as an explosion, the fire on the USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) appears less serious. These types of industrial accidents happen, and honestly it is a credit to quality of American shipyard workers it doesn't happen more often.

Five shipyard workers were injured, some burned, on Saturday when fumes "flashed" into a small fire aboard the guided missile cruiser Leyte Gulf.

"There's nothing to believe it's suspicious," said Battalion Chief Bruce Evans, a spokesman for Norfolk Fire-Rescue. "It was an industrial accident."

The incident, at 9:29 a.m., came as the ship is undergoing modernization. It is docked at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, in the 700 block of Berkley Ave.

"It was a fairly small incident," Evans said, although it initially drew national attention as news networks reported that there had been "an explosion" aboard the warship.

"No way does this appear linked to any type of terrorist activities," Evans said.

He said crews, working in a berthing area two decks below the main deck, were using a lacquer thinner to strip floors.

Fumes from the cleaning materials built up and ignited, investigators from the shipyard and the fire department determined, Evans said Saturday night.

He said there really wasn't a "big boom" of an explosion. Rather, there was a loud noise - more like a "woomph" - when the fumes ignited.

Exactly what sparked the fumes could not be determined, however, Evans said.

They may not know what ignited the fire yet, but they will find the cause. The USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) returned from its last deployment on November 18, 2024 with the USS Enterprise Strike Group, but went into a maintenance period and did not deploy with the Enterprise CSG this summer. The extent of the damage remains unknown, but historically we don't learn the extent of the damage in industrial accidents to warships until the investigation is complete and cost of damage is released.