Supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy in Flames - Just Four Days After Fire on USS Bonhomme Richard

The U.S. Navy supercarrrier USS John F. Kennedy, a variant of the Kitty Hawk Class carrier design, caught fire on July 20th, marking the second fire on an American carrier in less than a week. The incident caused a great deal of smoke but damage was reportedly minor with no injuries caused. The John F. Kennedy was docked at Newport at the time, and the warship was quickly evacuated with the fire confirmed extinguished at 10:15am. Fires on supercarriers are particularly dangerous, as most American supercarriers use dual nuclear reactors for propulsion which means they tend to have some of the best fire safety measures of any warship. The risk of a fire in one of the reactors would otherwise risk far more serous consequences than the loss of the ship, including long lasting contamination of the surrounding environment. The fire on the USS John F. Kennedy notably comes just four days after a far larger fire lasting five days seriously damaged the lighter assault carrier USS Bonhomme Richard, a 40,000 ton Wasp Class ship which does not have a nuclear propulsion system. The previous fire caused multiple explosions and over 80 casualties, the large majority from the Navy itself, and has forced the service to consider retiring the Bonhomme Richard from service entirely.