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General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Cruise Books

Accidents aboard the Ship

History

Deployments of USS Bonhomme Richard

Homeports of USS Bonhomme Richard

About the Ship's Coat of Arms

Image Gallery

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USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)

- decommissioned -

USS BONHOMME RICHARD was the sixth ship in the WASP - class and the last amphibious assault ship in the Navy commissioned in the 20^th century. She was the third ship to bear the name. On November 30, 2020, the Navy announced that the BONHOMME RICHARD would be decommissioned and scrapped following the 5-day fire in July 2020 which massively damaged the ship. The BONHOMME RICHARD held a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 14, 2021. The following day, the ship was officially decommissioned and left San Diego under tow bound for Galveston, Tx., to be scrapped.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: December 11, 1992
	Keel laid: April 18, 1995
	Launched: March 14, 1997
	Commissioned: August 15, 1998
	Decommissioned: April 15, 2021
	Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding , West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: two boilers, two geared turbines
	Propellers: two
	Aircraft elevators: two
	Length: 840 feet (256 meters)
	Flight Deck Width: 140 feet (42.6 meters)
	Beam: 106 feet (32,.3 meters)
	Draft: 26,5 feet (8.1 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 40,500 tons full load
	Speed: 23 knots
	Aircraft: 30+ (including V-22 Osprey, AH-1Z Viper and AH-1W Super Cobra, F-35B, CH-53K Sea Stallion, MH-60S Naval Hawk)
	Well deck capacity: three LCAC or two LCU or six LCM-8 or 40 Amphibious Assault Vessels (AAV) (normal) or 61 AAVs (stowed)
	Crew: Ship: 73 officers, 1,009 enlisted Marine Detachment: 1,894
	Armament: two Mk-29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, eight Mk-33 .50 cal. machine guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile Systems
	Cost: approx. $761 million

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Click here to see which USS BONHOMME RICHARD memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS BONHOMME RICHARD Cruise Books:

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Accidents aboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD:

Date	Where	Events
March 1998	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.	BONHOMME RICHARD's tanks 7 and 8 ruptured when Ingalls' floating drydock broke loose in 42-knot winds. Damage was $200,000.
August 8, 2005	Strait of Juan de Fuca	The 34-foot Canadian sailboat MAREEKA II collided with the BONHOMME RICHARD. There were no casualties or injuries reported as a result of the collision.
January 26, 2007	off San Clemente Island, Pacific Ocean	A MH-60S helicopter operating from USS BONHOMME RICHARD crashes during a routine training mission killing all 4 crewmembers aboard. The helicopter was assigned to HSC-23.
July 12, 2020	San Diego, Calif.	An explosion occurs and fire breaks out at approx. 8:30 a.m. in the lower parking decks aboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD. At the time, the ship is berthed at Naval Base San Diego's Pier 2 undergoing maintenance. By the end of the first day, at least 17 sailors and 4 civilian workers were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries. The next morning, this number had increased to 57 personnel who were treated for minor injuries including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. At approx 1:30 a.m. on July 13, the Navy also started aerial firefighting operations via helicopter water bucket with two helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3. It finally took until July 16 to extinguish all fires. 63 personnel, 40 US Navy sailors and 23 civilians, were treated for minor injuries.

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USS BONHOMME RICHARD History:

USS BONHOMME RICHARD was ordered on December 11, 1992, laid down at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on April 18, 1995, launched on March 14, 1997, delivered to the Navy on May 12, 1998, and commissioned on August 15, 1998, after commissioning week events at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The ship's sponsor was Joyce Murtha, and Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton placed the ship in commission.

Following shakedown, the "Revolutionary Gator" settled into West Coast amphibious operations and in 2000 made her first Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment (January 24-July 24, 2000), supporting Operation Southern Watch from the U.S. Fifth Fleet area and calling at Pearl Harbor, Singapore and Hong Kong en route. In 2001, she conducted large-scale amphibious training off Southern California and visits to Cabo San Lucas and San Francisco before deploying again December 1, 2001-June 18, 2002, for Operation Enduring Freedom, moving Marines and aviation detachments through the North Arabian Sea as the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan unfolded.

On January 17, 2003, BONHOMME RICHARD sailed with Amphibious Task Force West for Operation Iraqi Freedom. After offloading Marines and equipment to Kuwait, she converted to a "Harrier Carrier", operating AV-8B strike packages from VMA-211 and VMA-311 and launching more than 800 sorties - 547 of them combat missions - into Iraq in March-April. She operated in company with BOXER (LHD 4) and other San Diego amphibious ships - CLEVELAND (LPD 7), DUBUQUE (LPD 8) and PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52) - before returning to San Diego on July 26, 2003.

The ship pivoted quickly to humanitarian operations after the Indian Ocean tsunami. In early January 2005, after initial relief flights on January 4, BONHOMME RICHARD joined Operation Unified Assistance, using her flight deck and embarked helicopters to move relief supplies and medical personnel into devastated areas of northern Sumatra and Sri Lanka. By late January her Expeditionary Strike Group had also relieved ESSEX (LHD 2) in the Persian Gulf, reflecting how the post-tsunami relief surge overlapped with ongoing maritime security demands. KEARSARGE (LHD 3) relieved BONHOMME RICHARD on May 2, 2005.

The ship participated in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2006, entering Pearl Harbor on June 26 ahead of at-sea phases around Hawaii, then resumed routine Pacific training and local shipyard work. She again joined RIMPAC in 2008, arriving June 27 at Pearl Harbor and operating with multinational partners off Hawaii through late July before returning to San Diego.

From September 2009 to April 2010, BONHOMME RICHARD deployed across Seventh and Fifth Fleet waters with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducting MAREX 2009 alongside Timor-Leste's forces and the International Stabilization Force, with shipboard and ashore training around Dili and the Savu Sea. Port calls included Guam, Timor-Leste, Singapore and Thailand. After transiting east, she joined RIMPAC 2010, embarking coalition forces and MV-22s and operating in the Kaulakahi Channel between Kauai and Niihau in July.

A major inflection came in 2012, when BONHOMME RICHARD shifted homeport from San Diego to Sasebo, Japan, on April 23 to become flagship for Expeditionary Strike Group 7 and primary big-deck for the forward-deployed 31st MEU. That autumn she led PHIBLEX 2013 with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The opening ceremony took place aboard the ship at Subic Bay on October 8, after earlier arrivals to Guam, Okinawa and other regional hubs.

Through mid-2013, the ship executed a full forward-deployed patrol cycle - Cobra Gold in Thailand and amphibious certifications - then moved to Australia for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2013, embarking Royal Australian Navy personnel for combined command-and-control experimentation and making a port call to Sydney on August 16 before continuing north via Darwin and Hong Kong to Sasebo. In October 2013, while in Sasebo, her commanding officer was relieved for loss of confidence amid the Seventh Fleet bribery probe - an event noted in Navy releases at the time.

On April 16, 2014, the ship supported Republic of Korea authorities after the ferry SEWOL capsized, putting her flight deck and helicopters at the disposal of Korean responders off the southwest coast while continuing routine patrol tasks in the Yellow Sea and Korea Strait. In early 2014, she had also executed Ssang Yong amphibious drills with the ROK Navy and Marines, reflecting the alliance's emphasis on combined littoral operations.

In 2015, BONHOMME RICHARD led a substantial amphibious contingent during Talisman Sabre 2015 - GREEN BAY (LPD 20), ASHLAND (LSD 48) and PREBLE (DDG 88) with the 31st MEU - conducting landings at Fog Bay and other sites from early to mid-July, before a closing ceremony in Brisbane on July 20.

In 2016, the ship worked across the South China Sea and Philippine Sea, supporting PHIBLEX 33 in the Philippines in early October, then visiting Hong Kong later that month. Earlier in the year she had made a spring call to Busan to embark for exercises on the Korean Peninsula, underscoring routine alliance cycles with Seoul.

The 2017 patrol centered on Talisman Saber 17. BONHOMME RICHARD embarked Royal Australian Navy sailors to refine a combined Expeditionary Strike Group construct and hosted the at-sea opening ceremony before a Sydney port visit. On August 5, 2017, an MV-22B from VMM-265 launched from the ship and crashed in Shoalwater Bay during ship-to-shore operations. 23 personnel were rescued, three Marines died, and memorial observances followed later that month.

In early 2018, the ship executed a final forward-deployed cycle: arriving Laem Chabang, Thailand, on February 11 for Cobra Gold 18 and getting underway February 14 after the opening events, then calling at Manila on March 4. She completed her homeport shift back to San Diego in May 2018, transiting across the Pacific back to Commander, U.S. Third Fleet.

On July 12, 2020, while pierside at Naval Base San Diego during a maintenance availability, a fire broke out aboard BONHOMME RICHARD at approximately 8:50 a.m. The multi-day effort to contain and extinguish the blaze involved Navy and civilian firefighters and water-bucket helicopters. By July 16 the Navy declared the fires out, with 63 sailors and civilians treated for mostly minor injuries. Damage assessment found severe heat and water damage across most decks and a gutted island.

After months of analysis, the Navy announced on November 30, 2020, that repairs would be uneconomical - estimated at $2.5-$3.2 billion over five to seven years - and decided to decommission and scrap the ship. BONHOMME RICHARD was decommissioned at San Diego on April 15, 2021, then towed for dismantlement at International Shipbreaking Ltd. in Brownsville, Texas, with removal of salvageable equipment before recycling. Post-incident investigations and a comprehensive Major Fires Review were released in October 2021. A sailor initially charged with arson was acquitted in September 2022.

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Click here to get a view of the deployments of USS BONHOMME RICHARD.

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Homeports of USS BONHOMME RICHARD:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Pensacola, Fla.
1998 - 2012	San Diego, Calif.
2012 - 2018	Sasebo, Japan
2018 - 2021	San Diego, Calif.

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

Dark blue and gold are the colors traditionally used by the United States Navy. The red, white, and blue shield reflects the national colors and suggests the coat of arms of the United States. The six red stripes represent the ship's hull number as well as the six coins placed beneath the mast during mast stepping; red being the color of valor and sacrifice. The gold fleur-de-lis highlights the heritage of the first ship BONHOMME RICHARD. The King of France gave an armed ship to the American cause in 1779 which was placed under the command of John Paul Jones. Jones wanted a name with meaning for Americans and French alike, so he selected the pen name of Ben Franklin (then the U.S. Ambassador to France), and named the ship BONHOMME RICHARD in his honor. With this ship, John Paul Jones went on to defeat the British warship SERAPIS in one of the most famous sea battles in American history. The wreath of two green laurel branches symbolizes honor and high achievment commemorating the two previous ships carrying the name BONHOMME RICHARD. The eagle, overlooking the fleur-de-lis, adapted from historic flags and documents of the Revolutionary era, symbolizes the fighting spirit, patriotic fervor, and tenacity of both John Paul Jones and the United States Navy. The eagle is flanked by six gold stars representing the battle stars earned by the second BON HOMME RICHARD during World War II and the Korean War underscoring the heritage and continuing resolve of the fighting Navy. The chief is blue with a wavy edge suggesting a shoreline and reflecting the amphibious mission of the BONHOMME RICHARD.

The trident is emblematic of sea prowess and power from the sea; It has wings to commemorate the second BON HOMME RICHARD, an aircraft carrier and the three tines further represent the three areas of that ships sea battle service: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The trident is scarlet, a color traditionally used by the United States Marine Corps, and highlights action and zeal thus underscoring the ship's assault and battle insertion mission combining the land, sea, and air elements of the fighting force. The trident, synergistically combined with the crossed U.S. Navy and Marine swords, symbolizes combat readiness and teamwork highlighting the current LHD's potent amphibious and heliborne assault capabilities in the deployment of forces ashore.

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USS BONHOMME RICHARD Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me on July 27, 2006 (the first two photos) and on July 29, 2006, and show the BONHOMME RICHARD berthed at Pearl Harbor, HI., after her participation in RIMPAC 2006.

The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show the BONHOMME RICHARD during her first port visit to Fremantle, Australia. The photos were taken on October 16, 2007 (the first two photos), October 17, 2007 (the third and fourth photo), October 18, 2007 (fifth photo), and October 21, 2007 (last two photos).

The photos below were taken by me and show the BONHOMME RICHARD at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 10, 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the BONHOMME RICHARD at San Francisco, Calif., on October 7, 2011. The ship was in town for Fleet Week 2011.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee and show the BONHOMME RICHARD at Hong Kong on September 30, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning during one of the open ship events aboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD as part of Fleet Week San Francisco on October 4, 2018.



			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS BONHOMME RICHARD during the Parade of Ships as part of Fleet Week San Francisco on October 5, 2018.