Drydock Diaries – In the Yard During Holiday Stand Down

For the crew of Bonhomme Richard, this holiday season is one at home, amongst family and friends.  Work is slowed, not halted, with normal duty sections in place so the ship is not alone, but watched over during its refit.  With our “deadstick” move completed, the ship is now up on blocks, much like a car in a garage on a lift getting a very severe oil change. 

Many of the systems aboard will be upgraded, replaced, removed or refitted.  Imagine you have a car built in model year 1993.  One day you get a recall letter in the mail saying your car is due for maintenance.  Upon bringing it to the dealer, they say in a week it will be ready.  One week later, you come back to the garage finding your engine replaced, new tires, a brand new paint job, completely new interior, upgraded sound system, new features added and the mechanics tell you they’ve been driving it for the past two days to make sure everything is up to speed before giving it back to you.  That’s what’s happening to Bonhomme Richard right now. 

Upon completion of the yard period sometime in the spring, sea trials will test the ship’s ability to perform all of her necessary missions.  For the crew, this means getting underway for short periods, testing old systems, training up on new ones, and getting reacquainted with the ship in general.  Whatever does not pass muster is noted and resubmitted for further work. 

Ultimately, the goal is bringing a refitted ship over to Japan sometime next year, where the crew of Bonhomme Richard and USS Essex (LHD 2) will swap hulls, and Essex will enter her own yard period, undergoing the exact same process Bonhomme Richard is doing now. 

It’s a daunting task for both crews, and one of few perks.  Life in the yards is not pretty.  It’s often loud, clangy, dirty and noisy.  It’s long days, sometimes weekends, and not leaving until that days tasks are completed because tomorrow brings new goals and challenges that must be completed before the process can move forward.

For now, Bonhomme Richard is undergoing major surgery with a very large knife.  The crew is enjoying some well earned holiday stand down time and moving closer each day to bringing the ship out of the yards and back to the fleet.