The previous commanding and govt officers of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard had been every fined $5,000 as punishment for failing to organize the ship and its crew to struggle the July 2020 fireplace that destroyed the vessel, data obtained by the Union-Tribune present.
The officers — Capt. Gregory Thoroman, the previous ship’s captain, and Capt. David Ray, the chief officer — had been among the many 22 sailors who obtained administrative motion from the service after the hearth, the Navy introduced in July.
The officers’ non-judicial punishment data had been launched final week in response to a Freedom of Info Act Request filed by the Union-Tribune. The service launched paperwork for simply six of the 27 sailors whose actions earlier than and throughout the fireplace had been reviewed by the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Adm. Samuel Paparo. The Union-Tribune filed an attraction Friday for the remainder of the data.
The data of the six sailors launched present all obtained written reprimands, with solely Thoroman and Ray being fined. The nonjudicial punishment disposition data are closely redacted, with particulars of particular expenses eliminated and the names of three sailors withheld. The third named sailor is the ship’s former command grasp chief, Jose Hernandez.
The circumstances of the six sailors had been adjudicated in December — a full seven months earlier than the Navy introduced the ends in July. Different sailors topic to the admiral’s evaluate obtained letters of instruction or warning. The evaluate was targeted on the ship’s fireplace prevention, readiness and response to the hearth, the Navy mentioned.
The July 2020 fireplace burned for nearly 5 days, destroying a lot of the ship above its waterline. The Navy scrapped the ship in 2021.
The Navy decided the hearth was intentionally set and charged a junior sailor with arson. The sailor was acquitted of the cost at a army court-martial in September. He’s nonetheless on energetic responsibility in San Diego, based on a third Fleet spokesperson.
The Navy additionally sought to carry leaders in San Diego accountable.
The service’s investigation discovered that quite a few failures in coaching and materials situations on board made the 844-foot warship susceptible to fireside. Sailors lacked coaching and, even had they been able to combating the hearth, fireplace stations on board had been lacking gear and an automatic foam system was inoperable when the hearth started.
Its investigation recognized three dozen different Navy officers and sailors bore some duty, from members of the crew to the civilian and high-ranking officers overseeing the ship’s $250 million retrofit.
Thoroman was reprimanded for failing to “instruct and drill personnel” on responsibility part composition and security precautions, his nonjudicial punishment report says. The fireplace started on a Sunday morning when the ship was manned with solely its weekend responsibility part — roughly one-sixth of the crew.
His reprimand additionally included a cost of dereliction of responsibility since, as captain, he had “absolute duty” for the security and well-being of the ship.
Three of the 5 specs on Thoroman’s nonjudicial punishment had been redacted.
Ray was additionally reprimanded for dereliction of responsibility, his nonjudicial punishment report says. As govt officer, the Navy says he failed to make sure the crew understood and noticed firefighting security precautions on the ship whereas it was present process upkeep. He additionally did not preserve the command suggested of its survivability readiness, the report says.
Two of the 4 specs in opposition to Ray had been redacted.
Hernandez, the command grasp chief and highest-ranking enlisted sailor on board, was additionally reprimanded for dereliction of responsibility as a result of he failed to show and implement requirements among the many crew and “negligently failed” to advise Thoroman on the welfare and coaching of sailors on board, his report says.
The three different nonjudicial punishment data had been for the ship’s chief engineer, its injury management assistant and a chief injury controlman — all unnamed. The chief was reprimanded for failing to revive two firefighting foam stations on board as he was ordered to do one week earlier than the blaze, based on his report. These foam stations weren’t absolutely operational on the time of the hearth and had been falsely signed-off as purposeful throughout upkeep checks three months earlier than the hearth, the Navy’s investigation discovered.
The previous injury management assistant, a commander, was reprimanded for getting into the ship on the second day of the hearth after Thoroman issued orders not to take action, the report says. He was additionally cited for dereliction of responsibility for failing to coach the ship’s in-port emergency workforce and to stop the ship from receiving injury.
The ship’s chief engineer didn’t furnish backup energy to the ship and didn’t correctly stow hazardous supplies, his nonjudicial punishment report says. Seven of the chief engineer’s 9 specs had been redacted by the Navy.
Senior officers off-ship had been additionally administratively punished, the service mentioned in its July announcement. Letters of instruction had been issued to Rear Adm. Scott Brown, the director of fleet upkeep for the Pacific Fleet, and Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, the commander of Navy Regional Upkeep Middle.
Vice Adm. Richard Brown, who’s now retired however was the commander of the Naval Floor Drive on the time of the hearth, obtained a letter of censure from Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.
The service revamped its in-port firefighting and prevention packages within the two years because the fireplace, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, the San Diego-based commander of Naval Floor Forces, advised reporters in August. Citing confusion throughout the fireplace’s first hours, Kitchener mentioned the Navy established a clarified chain-of-command throughout such incidents. Floor Drive commanders — one on the West Coast and one other on the East — will now be in cost on-the-ground throughout any main fireplace.
Adjustments to the hearth prevention program for ships present process upkeep and extra firefighting assets on the Navy’s piers are additionally within the works, he mentioned, and ships are conducting extra firefighting coaching and fireplace drills.
“We essentially modified the way in which we have a look at in-port firefighting,” Kitchener advised reporters. “Fixed vigilance is required.”
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