30 Hours of Continuous Burning! Real Details of Damage on the "Ford" Ship

“The ceiling of the burned compartment was burned through

with wires hanging down”

……

Recently, U.S. media disclosed

that during the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict in March of this year,

the situation following the fire on the USS Ford

The fire lasted for 30 hours

How severe is the damage to the USS Ford?

Recently released videos by U.S. media show that the USS Ford, which experienced the fire, had the sleeping quarters of about 600 sailors completely burned, the fireproof layer of the ceiling burned through, wires hanging in mid-air, and the floor covered in charred ashes.

The internal cabling of the aircraft carrier is extremely complex, connecting power, communication, and weapon systems. How significant is the extent of this damage? Besides the sleeping quarters and cables, what other hidden dangers could this 30-plus hour fire pose to the USS Ford?

Military expert Li Yaqiang stated that the issue is not just the loss of cables or the burned ceiling, but that the fire lasted for 30 hours. Such a large fire can cause an indescribable damage to the steel strength of this part of the hull, as overheating can have a huge impact and destruction on the entire steel structure. Whether this part of the structure can continue to maintain its technical status according to the original design requirements is the real problem.

Li Yaqiang also mentioned that the burning of multiple sleeping quarters itself does not significantly affect the normal operation of the U.S. aircraft carrier; what this incident truly brings is a psychological shock, which will have a considerable impact on the overall living order.

Experts: U.S. military damage control level has significantly declined

A sailor present during the fire stated, “At that moment, I really thought the ship was going to sink.” This sailor and a military official familiar with the situation indicated that at the time of the incident, the aircraft carrier's firefighting system failed to operate normally, causing sailors to be flustered while trying to extinguish the fire.

Li Yaqiang pointed out that the failure was not limited to the seemingly advanced firefighting system.

▲ The USS Ford returning to its home port

Li Yaqiang stated that the U.S. military's damage control level has always ranked among the top in the world’s navies, with very high standards and well-prepared training. However, based on the recent fire on the USS Ford, it appears that this system may have suffered significant damage, and its original level has decreased considerably. Just in the living quarters section, the fire lasted for 30 hours before being extinguished, indicating that its damage control system, damage control training, and overall damage control level must have significantly declined.

Repairs will take at least 1 year

Experts: U.S. aircraft carriers are facing a gap in capability

An official told the media that the USS Ford will need at least 1 year before it can set sail again. The USS Ford is the U.S. Navy's newest and most expensive aircraft carrier, and it has been in operational deployment for less than 4 years. How will this affect the U.S. Navy's force deployment, which has long been flexing its muscles globally?

Li Yaqiang stated that saying it will take 1 year might still be optimistic. It needs to clear the shipyard, clear the dry dock, and after entering the dock, repairs will begin. After repairs, it will also need sea trials and re-staffing. Many of the older aircraft carriers in the U.S. are set to be decommissioned and are no longer sufficient, with aging hulls and increased failure rates. The USS Ford has encountered issues, and the newly built USS Kennedy is not yet ready, leading to a situation where there is a gap in capability.

▲ Currently, only the USS Ford among U.S. Navy aircraft carriers is equipped with electromagnetic catapults, but it cannot launch and recover the most advanced F-35 carrier-based aircraft

Li Yaqiang stated that the U.S. Navy currently has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service, but due to lengthy overhauls and material replacement cycles, along with a backlog of repair orders at shipyards, typically only 3 to 5 can be deployed at any time.

He believes that the hollowing out of the shipbuilding industry chain and the gap in skilled labor have created a vicious cycle where new ships cannot be built and old ships cannot be repaired, which is spreading from aircraft carrier construction and maintenance to the entire shipbuilding industry. The deep structural decline of domestic manufacturing is dragging down the U.S. Navy, which can only hope that the second ship of the Ford class, the USS Kennedy, originally scheduled for delivery in 2018, can be delivered on time in March next year.

Source: CCTV Military Comprehensive CCTV-13 "News Live" and China Voice, etc.