Dry Dock Diaries -- About our Ship and and "the yard"

Welcome to USS Bonhomme Richard(LHD6), currently in drydock at NASSCO Shipyards in San Diego.  This is a long and arduous process, remaking the ship from the bottom up.  All of the ships crew is involved as well as contractors and other service personnel intent on keeping this ship the pride of the waterfront and in top shape for whatever future missions may come its way. 

A little knowledge about the ship itself, Bonhomme Richard is named forthe famous naval Captain John Paul Jones.  During a battle with HMS Serapis on Sep. 23, 1779, Jones and his crew, their ship crippled, outnumbered and facing desperate odds, issued the famous quote, “I’ve not yet begun to fight,” when the enemy asked if he was ready to strike his colors.  The remark spurred the crew onto victory in the battle and for Jones and Bonhomme Richard, immortality in Navy lore.

Today’s Bonhomme Richard, steeped in rich history, is a much different vessel, in a much different Navy.  LHD 6 is an amphibious assault ship crewed by more than 3,000 Marines and Sailors when fully loaded. She carries two Rolling Air Frame missile launchers, two NATO Sea Sparrow missile launchers, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts, four .50 caliber machine guns, three 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns, along with 4 CH-53 Sea Stallions helicopters and other assorted aircraft.  What the waterfront refers to as a “gator freighter,” others see as aid in a humanitarian crisis, or a whole lot of bad news coming their way.  Forward from the sea is a Navy term used describing power projection from the sea to the shore, and that’s a primary mission of Bonhomme Richard.

While that may be impressive, awesome, fear inspiring, etc., life in the yards is not glamorous.  This is where the dirty work is done, and where the ship is brought back to life, upgraded in systems and technology refitted for new missions, adding to their already impressive capability. 

We are on “the barge,” which is exactly what it sounds like; temporary office and berthing space aboard a barge located next to the ship.  BHR, “the ship” as we know it, is currently a mess.  With “yardbirds” fully engaged, any space in the ship can be found in a state of disrepair, mid-repair or no longer there.  She is being ripped open, stripped down, repainted, upgraded and brought around.  Imagine remodeling your house by moving to the storage shed outback with your whole family, and then watching a crew of folks completely rip it down to the bones and build it back new the way you’ve designed it.  That’s what’s happening to our ship right now.  

Yard work and time in drydock is a long and involved process requiring hundreds of hours of maintenance, refitting, testing, and inspecting.  It’s learning to live, work and fight as a team, get along, and in the process get to know each other.  It’s life in the Navy and aboard USS Bonhomme Richard.