At least two sailors from a U.S. amphibious transport dock have tested positive for the coronavirus after helping fight this week’s fire aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, the Navy said.
At least 27 people who were in contact with them are now quarantined.
The Navy statement on Friday came in response to questions asked by several sailors from the San Diego amphibious transport dock during interviews with the San Diego Union-Tribune. According to the sailors, at least five sailors on his ship have tested positive in recent days.
The sailors spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
The Navy confirmed that two of the sick were at the scene of the fire.
“Two sailors supporting the USS Bonhomme Richard’s firefighting operations recently tested positive for COVID-19 after showing symptoms,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, spokeswoman for the Navy.
“The monitoring of the contract identified 27 close contacts,” he said. “All contacts were placed in ROM [restriction of movement]. The Navy continues to implement COVID-19 mitigation measures to protect the health of our force. “
Sailors on the ship said a significant number of the 27 “close contacts” work in the San Diego engineering department and include high-level personnel from the department. The department has increased its staff turnover to fill the gaps left by those in quarantine, the sailors said.
Citing privacy laws, Schwegman declined to comment on who is quarantined or in what department they work.
A sailor who helped fight the fire told the Union-Tribune on Friday that the scene outside Bonhomme Richard during the height of the conflagration was “chaotic,” and that responding sailors exchanged and shared firefighting equipment, such as masks and gloves.
Photos provided by the Navy show that firefighting equipment is being washed and disinfected.
More than 400 sailors from 16 San Diego-based ships helped fight the fire, said Admiral Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, in a press conference friday. Gilday was in San Diego touring the fire-ravaged ship and meeting with its leaders, sailors and firefighters who battled the fire for five days.
According to the sailor who fought the fire, much of Bonhomme Richard’s firefighting equipment was damaged or destroyed by the flames, so his sailors relied on the equipment brought in from neighboring ships, including the San Diego.
The Navy announced that the fires were extinguished Thursday. The damage to the ship is “extensive,” Gilday said.
It has been a tumultuous few months for the Navy as it tries to balance its national defense mission with the need to keep sailors healthy in the midst of a pandemic.
The San Diego-based carrier Theodore Roosevelt was sidelined in Guam for two months earlier this year when the virus spread to nearly 25% of its 5,000-person crew, one of whom died. The subsequent dismissal of the Roosevelt captain by then-acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly ignited a political storm that ended with Modly’s resignation days later.
Bonhomme Richard’s fate is in the air. Gilday said he believes the 22-year-old boat can be repaired, but is not sure that it should be repaired. A damage assessment is not yet complete
Navy fire crews are expected to continue rotating through Bonhomme Richard throughout the weekend, monitoring the fires and conducting further inspections, the sailors said.
Dyer writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
