This post has been updated with additional details of the sailor accused of starting the fire aboard the former Bonhomme Richard (LHA-6).
The Navy has filed charges against a sailor for allegedly deliberately starting a fire last year that quickly spread and consumed much of the interior of amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), the service announced Thursday.
“The sailor was a member of Bonhomme Richard’s crew at the time and is accused of starting the fire,” Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson in San Diego, said in a statement.
The charges against the seaman apprentice are aggravated arson under Article 126 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and hazarding a vessel under Article 110, USNI News has learned. The charges “were brought forth against a Navy sailor in response to evidence found during the criminal investigation into the fire started on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on July 12, 2020.”
The fire began in the morning of July 12, 2020, as the ship was berthed at Naval Base San Diego. It burned for nearly five days and later lead to the Navy’s decision to decommission and scrap the ship, which began commissioned service in 1998 and carried tens of thousands of Marines and sailors across the globe and to combat zones over the years.
Only about 160 sailors of the ship’s 1,000 crew were aboard Bonhomme Richard when the fire broke out. The ship had been undergoing maintenance on Pier 2 at Naval Base San Diego, following a $249 million maintenance availability at the nearby General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard that included updates to support the Marine Corps’ advanced F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
“Evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to direct a preliminary hearing in accordance with due process under the military justice system,” Robertson said.
“Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, who commands 3rd Fleet, is considering court-martial charges and has directed a preliminary hearing at which an impartial hearing officer will make determinations and recommendations required by the UCMJ prior to any further trial proceedings – including whether or not there is probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and to offer a recommendation as to the disposition of the case,” he said.
The charges are against the same sailor who was questioned in August by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, a Navy official told USNI News. The sailor had been held in custody at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., before being released in November, reported The San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this month.
Under military justice procedures, the preliminary hearing officer would make a recommendation to 3rd Fleet on whether the charges should be dropped or warrant prosecution at a court-martial.
The criminal investigation into the cause of the fire is separate from several other inquires on how the Navy and other agencies effectively battled the blaze. A command investigation into the details of the fire fighting effort is due out in September.
The following is the complete statement from U.S. 3rd Fleet.
On July 29, charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice were brought forth against a Navy Sailor in response to evidence found during the criminal investigation into the fire started on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on July 12, 2020. Evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to direct a preliminary hearing in accordance with due process under the military justice system. The Sailor was a member of Bonhomme Richard’s crew at the time and is accused of starting the fire.
Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet is considering court-martial charges and has directed a preliminary hearing at which an impartial hearing officer will make determinations and recommendations required by the UCMJ prior to any further trial proceedings – including whether or not there is probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and to offer a recommendation as to the disposition of the case.
