2020-7-12 Bonhomme Richard Fire

24-4-25 US Navy - Punishments for Bonhomme Richard Fire - Shipping > .

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) was a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy commissioned on 15 August 1998. Like the previous five Wasp-class ships, Bonhomme Richard was designed to embark, deploy, and land elements of a Marine Corps landing force in amphibious assault operations by helicopter, landing craft, and amphibious vehicle, and, if needed, to act as a light aircraft carrier.

LHD-6 was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name first given by John Paul Jones to his Continental Navy frigate, named in French "Good Man Richard" in honor of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the publisher of Poor Richard's Almanack who at the time served as U.S. ambassador to France.

On 12 July 2020, a fire started on a lower vehicle-storage deck while the ship was undergoing maintenance at Naval Base San Diego. It took four days for firefighters to extinguish the fire, which injured at least 63 sailors and civilians and severely damaged the ship. After a lengthy investigation into the cause of the fire, a sailor was charged with arson but was acquitted at trial. Repairs to the ship were estimated to take up to seven years and cost up to $3.2 billion, so the ship was decommissioned on 15 April 2021 and sold for scrap.

The average cost of a Wasp-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship was estimated to be $750 million in 1989 ($1.6 billion in 2023) whereas the program unit cost of an America-class LHA (landing helicopter assault) was expected to be about $3.3 billion in 2015 ($4.1 billion in 2023). In 2020, the cost of replacing the ship was estimated to be about $4 billion.

1916-11-21 HMHS Britannic

The Sinking of the H.M.H.S. Britannic - BlSt > .

The Wreck of the H.M.H.S. Britannic - BlSt > .

Britannic: Patroness of the Mediterranean - Tita > .

What happened to the other 2 Titanics? - FiM > .

HMHS Britannic was the third vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the fleet mate of both the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner.

Britannic was launched just before the start of the First World War. She was designed to be the safest of the three ships with design changes actioned during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the Titanic. She was laid up at her builders, Harland and Wolff, in Belfast for many months before being put to use as a hospital ship in 1915. In 1915 and 1916 she served between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles. On the morning of 21 November 1916 she was shaken by an explosion caused by a naval mine of the Imperial German Navy near the Greek island of Kea and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 people.

There were 1,065 people on board; the 1,035 survivors were rescued from the water and lifeboats. Britannic was the largest ship lost in the First World War. The loss of the ship was compensated by the award of SS Bismarck to the White Star Line as part of postwar reparations; she became the RMS Majestic.

The wreck was located and explored by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1975. The vessel is the largest passenger ship on the sea floor.

1994 MS Estonia

MS Estonia | The story of her sinking - CaNa > .

The Estonia tragedy happened in 1994, in one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century. Ultimately, it was caused by the free surface effect due to seawater on the vehicle deck. 

Accident report: https://onse.fi/estonia/

45-3-19 USS Franklin (saved)

.45-3-19 American carrier U.S.S. Franklin - 1945, 19 March - BrMo > .

USS Franklin (CV/CVA/CVS-13, AVT-8), nicknamed "Big Ben," was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during WW2 for the United States Navy, and the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in January 1944, she served in several campaigns in the Pacific War, earning four battle stars. She was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack in March 1945, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, becoming the most heavily damaged United States aircraft carrier to survive the war. Movie footage of the actual attack was included in the 1949 film Task Force starring Gary Cooper.

After the attack, she returned to the U.S. mainland for repairs, missing the rest of the war; she was decommissioned in 1947. While in reserve, she was reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally an aircraft transport (AVT), but was never modernized and never saw active service again. Franklin and Bunker Hill (damaged by two kamikazes) were the only Essex-class carriers not to see active service as aircraft carriers after WW2. Franklin was sold for scrap in 1966.

41-5-24 Hood

How Did The Bismarck Manage To Sink HMS Hood So Quickly? - Reel > .

Loss of HMS Hood - But why did it blow up?? - Drach > .

Refit of HMS Hood - But what if she had survived? - Drach > .

On 24th May 1941 at 05:52 the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood, engaged the mighty German ship Bismarck in battle. At 06:00 the Hood was hit and it sank in less than 3 minutes. Only 3 of her 1418 crew survived – the single biggest loss of life in a single engagement in the history of the Royal Navy but why this 860 feet long ship sank so quickly has been a mystery for over 70 years. Now, the team that discovered the giant wreck eleven years ago is on its way back to finally find the answer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Denmark_Strait .

http://www.hmshood.com/history/denmarkstrait/whyloss.htm .