USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
One of several naval ships to be named after John Paul Jones' Revolutionary War era frigate, the USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier serving in the US Navy. It was one of 24 such carriers ordered during WWII, commissioned at the end of November 1944 under the command of Captain A.O. Rule.
Construction
Construction of the "Bonnie Dick" commenced on 1 February 1943 at the New York Navy Yard. It was launched in April of the following year. Displacing over 36,000 tons with a full load and measuring more than 870 feet at the flight deck, Bon Homme Richard was powered by four geared steam turbines built by Westinghouse. At the time of her launch, the vessel carried a crew complement of 360 officers and 3,088 seamen.
Repairs and Upgrades
Complex vessels such as aircraft carriers require frequent maintenance and repairs – and with the many advances in aviation, upgrades were frequent. Other than a post-shakedown maintenance period at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in late 1944, Bon Homme Richard underwent her first conversion at Pearl Harbor in early November 1945 when she was outfitted as a troop carrier.
Major modernization was undertaken at the Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco between May 1953 and September 1955, during which her flight deck was upgraded and enlarged, an angled flight deck and steam catapults were added and she received an enclosed "hurricane" bow.
In 1966, Bon Homme Richard underwent an extensive overhaul at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, during which HVAC systems were installed throughout the vessel, electronic data processing equipment was added and the flight deck resurfaced. In late 1967 and early 1968, the carrier underwent five months of maintenance in San Diego and Long Beach.
Wartime Service
Bon Homme Richard sailed from Norfolk for the Pacific combat zone in March of 1945. After stopping at San Diego to pick up aircraft for a short period of training operations out of Pearl Harbor, she sailed for Okinawa, joining Task Force 38 for the last raids on the Japanese Home Islands. Following the Japanese surrender in August, the carrier remained in the area until mid-September. Following a training period off Guam, she sailed for San Francisco, remaining there during the last week of October before returning to Pearl Harbor.
Bon Homme Richard was next assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, transporting service personnel home for the next several months. Bon Homme Richard docked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in January 1947, where she was decommissioned until the outbreak of the Korean War in June of 1950. After being recommissioned in January 1951, she was ordered to the combat zone, serving as a launching point for aerial raids against North Korean targets with Task Force 77. The carrier made two combat tours during the war, from May through December of 1951 and 1952.
Upon her return to the States in May 1953, the carrier went into a shipyard in San Francisco for modernization. Returning to duty in September of 1955, Bon Homme Richard was deployed to the Far East with the 7th Fleet several times over the next nine years. The carrier was in the area when the Tonkin Gulf Incident occurred, leading to an escalation of US involvement in Vietnam.
Between 1965 and 1971, the Bon Homme Richard made five combat tours of Vietnam, visiting other Asian ports and returning to the States for periodic maintenance between assignments. In July 1971, the Bon Homme Richard returned to the States for the last time. Tying up at the Puget Sound Naval Yard in Bremerton, Washington, the vessel remained on reserve status until sold for scrap in March 1992. The Bon Homme Richard was dismantled at Southwest Marine in San Pedro, California.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
Although asbestos was used extensively through all vessels constructed prior to the early 1980s, areas of particular heavy exposure would have been in the engine room around the turbines as well as fuel tanks, aviation fuel storage, and HVAC systems.
All branches of the service utilized asbestos-containing products in various types of facilities and vehicles, but exposure was much more common aboard ship, and so there are far more mesothelioma navy cases than in other services. Navy ships like Bon Homme Richard used asbestos frequently around boilers and engineering spaces, and in fireproofing all over the ship. Asbestos has long been known for its ability to insulate; however, it was also demonstrated to be the principal cause of such life-threatening conditions like lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Tragically, the prognosis for mesothelioma cases is not usually optimistic - typically mesothelioma disease patients have a life expectancy of around a year once a mesothelioma diagnosis is made. To aid malignant mesothelioma victims with finding available treatment and care options, we have compiled a free Mesothelioma Treatment Guide with information on clinics, treatments, and drug trials. All you have to do is complete the form on this page and we'll send you this information at no cost to you.
Sources
N/A. "Bonhomme Richard." Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/carriers/cv31.htm). Retrieved 10 December 2010.
N/A. "History." USS Bon Homme Richard. (http://www.bhr31.com/HISTORY.htm) Retrieved 10 December 2010.
N/A. " USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31). NavSource Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive (http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/31.htm) Retrieved 10 December 2010.
