USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

USS Bonhomme Richard on 8 August 2017
History
United States
Name	Bonhomme Richard
Namesake	USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
Ordered	11 December 1992
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down	18 April 1995
Launched	14 March 1997
Commissioned	15 August 1998
Decommissioned	15 April 2021
Stricken	15 April 2021
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	MMSI number: 368820000 Callsign: NBHR Hull number: LHD-6
Motto	I have not yet begun to fight!
Nickname(s)	Bonnie Dick BHR
Status	Scrapped
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Wasp-class amphibious assault ship
Displacement	40,358 long tons (41,006 t) full load
Length	844 ft (257 m)
Beam	105 ft (32 m)
Draft	27 ft (8.2 m)
Installed power	2 600 psi (4,100 kPa) boilers 70,000 shp (52,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 geared steam turbines two shafts
Speed	22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Range	9,500 nmi (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Well deck dimensions:	266-by-50-foot (81 by 15.2 m) by 28-foot (8.5 m) high
Boats & landing craft carried	3 Landing Craft Air Cushion or 2 Landing Craft Utility[1] or 12 Landing Craft Mechanized
Troops	1,894 troops (plus 184 surge) Marine Detachment
Complement	1,108
Sensors and processing systems	1 AN/SPS-49 2-D Air Search Radar 1 AN/SPS-48 3-D Air Search Radar 1 AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar 1 Mk23 Target Acquisition System (TAS) 1 AN/SPN-43 Marshalling Air Traffic Control Radar 1 AN/SPN-35 Air Traffic Control Radar 1 AN/URN-25 TACAN system 1 AN/UPX-24 Identification Friend Foe
Armament	Two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers Two RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile launchers Two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS systems Three 25 mm Mk 38 chain guns Four .50 BMG machine guns
Aircraft carried	Actual mix depended on the mission Standard Complement (29-30): 6 AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft or 6 F-35B Lightning II stealth strike-fighters 4 AH-1W /Z Super Cobra /Viper attack helicopters 12 MV-22B Osprey assault support tiltrotors 4 CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters 3–4 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters Assault (22+): 22+ MV-22B Osprey assault support tiltrotors Sea Control (26): 20 AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft or 20 F-35B Lightning II stealth strike-fighters 6 SH-60F/HH-60H ASW helicopters

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) was a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy commissioned on 15 August 1998. Like the previous five Wasp-class ships, Bonhomme Richard was designed to embark, deploy, and land elements of a Marine Corps landing force in amphibious assault operations by helicopter, landing craft, and amphibious vehicle, and, if needed, to act as a light aircraft carrier.

LHD-6 was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name first given by John Paul Jones to his Continental Navy frigate, named in French "Good Man Richard" in honor of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the publisher of Poor Richard's Almanack who at the time served as U.S. ambassador to France.^[2]

On 12 July 2020, a fire started on a lower vehicle-storage deck while the ship was undergoing maintenance at Naval Base San Diego. It took four days for firefighters to extinguish the fire, which injured at least 63 sailors and civilians and severely damaged the ship. After a lengthy investigation into the cause of the fire, a sailor was charged with arson but was acquitted at trial.^[3][4] Repairs to the ship were estimated to take up to seven years and cost up to $3.2 billion, so the ship was decommissioned on 15 April 2021 and sold for scrap.