Alleged to be arson.
John Ismay, Court Documents Identify Sailor Charged With Arson in Fire That Destroyed Ship. New York Times, August 4, 2021.
Investigators have identified the Navy sailor accused of starting a fire that engulfed the warship Bonhomme Richard and burned for days at a Navy base in San Diego last year.
The sailor, RSM, 20, joined the service in May 2019 and holds the rank of seaman apprentice, according to Navy records. The Navy formally charged Seaman Mays with aggravated arson and hazarding a vessel last month but declined to provide additional details until federal search warrants were unsealed by a federal court in San Diego on Tuesday.
Documents filed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service describe a sailor who “hated” the Navy after being sent to a warship following a brief stint as a SEAL trainee in late 2019.
Seaman RSM quit the difficult six-month initial SEAL training course in Coronado, Calif., after just five days, according to the filing.
. . .
The fire, one of the worst to engulf an American warship outside combat, rendered the ship inoperative while it was pierside at the base. More than 400 sailors from 16 nearby ships fought the blaze, which reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees and took four days to extinguish.
. . .
About 160 sailors were aboard the ship at the time, according to the Navy, which said that 34 sailors and 23 civilians were injured. The injuries were not life-threatening, and included heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. All crew members had been accounted for, the Navy said, and five sailors remained hospitalized in stable condition.
RSM was released after several months in pretrial confinement. It appears he was identified as a suspect almost a year ago.
It is too early to tell, but for the moment, the evidence seems to be some statements he made to others, some opinions of some of his leaders and shipmates, and him having access and being close to the scene of the fire near the time of the fire. It appears the investigators are focused on several containers found which contained liquid (usually available aboard ship) as accelerants.
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