Third U.S. Carrier in Flames in Two Weeks: Shipbuilders Suspend Welding After Fire on New Gerald Ford Class Supercarrier

Construction of the next Gerald Ford Class supercarrier for the U.S. Navy, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), has been shut down after a fire broke out on the ship on July 20th at 10:15am. The incident is currently under investigation, with a yard-wide stand down conducted for fire safety. The cause of the fire remains unknown. The fire notably represents the third on an American carrier in less than two weeks, with the Wasp Class carrier USS Bonhomme Richard suffering damage to 11 of it’s 14 decks and seeing its island superstructure gutted in a five day conflagration which saw multiple explosions and caused over 80 casualties. This was followed by a fire on an older non-nuclear supercarrier, also called USS John F. Kennedy (CV-69), which was put out quickly and caused no casualties. The Gerald Ford Class carrier USS John F. Kennedy displaces approximately 100,000 tons, and alongside its predecessor USS Gerald Ford it is one of the two most expensive warships in the world today - with the Ford costing over $13 billion and the Kennedy’s final cost having yet to be confirmed. The ships are prized for their powerful sensors, high endurance and integration of electromagnetic catapult launch systems which allow aircraft to take off from their short decks with very high weapons payloads and fuel stores. Such warships are generally some of the best equipped in the world for fire safety, as the risks are very high should their dual nuclear reactors be hit. The spike in fires abroad carriers notably coincides wit a spike in crashes of American fighter aircraft, with causes of both remaining a mystery but under investigation.