Why are large warship fires difficult to extinguish? US media interpretation: The structure is very complex and the difficulty of firefighting is high
2024-08-20
According to the announcement from the Nantong Fire Rescue Brigade in Jiangsu Province, a fire broke out on August 16th during the dismantling and renovation of an abandoned aircraft carrier along the Yangtze River in the Suxitong Industrial Park. On the 17th, the US "Power" website reported that the fire broke out on the retired aircraft carrier "Minsk" imported from Russia many years ago. The fire has now been extinguished, but the superstructure has suffered significant damage. What concerns the outside world is not only what the future holds for this ill fated aircraft carrier, but also why fires on large warships are so difficult to extinguish. There are reports of congenital design defects, stating that the "Minsk" ship caught fire during the renovation process. Previously, it had been docked along the Yangtze River for many years. At the beginning of this year, Nantong announced that it would build a national defense science popularization and education base with the "Minsk" as the main body. The Minsk is the second ship of the Kiev class aircraft carrier built during the Soviet era, with a displacement of approximately 40000 tons. The Kiev class aircraft carrier, based on the actual needs and combat concepts of the Soviet Navy at that time, did not adopt the typical flat deck design of aircraft carriers, but instead deployed a large number of weapons at the bow of the ship, possessing strong anti ship and anti air combat capabilities; At the same time, its angled deck and internal hangar can accommodate 12 Yak-38 vertical takeoff and landing fighter jets and about 20 Ka-25 helicopters, providing cover for Soviet strategic nuclear submarines engaged in ocean activities. The "Minsk" was commissioned in 1978 and served as the flagship of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, deployed in the Far East region for a long time. The novel "The Attack of the Minsk" written by Japanese military critic Ryuo Kurishima, featuring it as the protagonist, was a bestseller, which proves the deterrent effect of the ship on Japan at that time. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the cash strapped Russian Navy was unable to sustain the daily operations of these large ships, and four Kiev class aircraft carriers were retired one after another. It is worth noting that the three aircraft carriers of the same class, the Minsk, Novorossiysk, and Gorshkov, all experienced varying degrees of fire during this period. These frequent fires were not only related to the poor management of the Russian Navy at that time, but also proved that the design of the Kiev class aircraft carrier itself had flaws. Especially for the superstructure of the ship, a large amount of magnesium aluminum alloy materials were used, which were popular among navies of various countries at that time. However, the later Anglo Australian War proved that magnesium aluminum alloys had serious defects in high temperature resistance, and the new generation of ships has abandoned this type of material since then. The retired "Minsk" was completely disarmed and sent to a South Korean shipyard for dismantling. Later, it was purchased by a Chinese company, towed back to Shenzhen, and transformed into an aircraft carrier theme park. After several changes, in 2016, due to poor management of related enterprises, the aircraft carrier left Shenzhen and was towed to the riverside near Nantong. The difficulty of firefighting is very high, according to the "Power" website. Large ships like aircraft carriers have very complex structures, and if a fire is not extinguished in a timely manner, subsequent firefighting will be very difficult. For example, the American amphibious assault ship "Good Richard", which was destroyed in a fire accident in 2020, caught fire in the lower dock during port maintenance. Due to insufficient personnel and firefighting training on board, the fire spiraled out of control and continued to burn from July 12th until it was extinguished on July 16th. The investigation report of the US Navy shows that the superstructure of the ship is mainly made of aluminum alloy, which poses serious hidden dangers in the event of a fire; After failing to extinguish the fire in a timely manner in the early stages, the flames spread along the internal pipelines to different parts of the ship, and the highest temperature in some compartments exceeded 1200 degrees Celsius. The only way to cool down the ship was to use firefighting helicopters and rescue boats to water it. After the fire is brought under control, the fire brigade still needs to inspect thousands of rooms on board one by one to confirm whether the fire has been completely extinguished. The report suggests that compared to the "Good Richard" which caught fire while in service, the "Minsk" has poorer firefighting capabilities. Even well maintained ships can easily cause catastrophic consequences in the event of a fire, especially when maintenance operations are carried out and only elite crew members are on duty. Considering that the "Minsk" has been decommissioned for decades, the original fire damage management equipment has long been ineffective, and the interior of the ship has undergone recreational renovations, with a large number of isolation doors removed, it does not have the original fire prevention capabilities of a warship. At the same time, when the "Minsk" caught fire, there may have been fewer personnel on board, which also increased the difficulty of extinguishing the fire. In addition, when the "Good Richard" caught fire, 1200 firefighting helicopters were deployed in rotation to spray water and cool down, and a large number of firefighting rescue boats approached the jet water dragon. In contrast, photos and videos on social media show that the "Minsk" is located by the river and conventional firefighting equipment is difficult to quickly approach and operate. How to assess the fate after a disaster? As for whether the ship after encountering a fire has maintenance value, the report states that this requires investigation and evaluation by professional institutions. For example, the "Gorshkov" only experienced a fire in the mechanical compartment and affected the engine room, but the overall structure was not greatly affected. Therefore, after large-scale reconstruction, it became the Indian Navy's "Super King" aircraft carrier. The "Good Richard" was burned in high temperatures and flames for four days, and its overall structure was damaged. The US military assessed that the repair cost was over 3 billion US dollars, while the new construction cost was only 4 billion US dollars. Therefore, the ship was ultimately decommissioned and scrapped. (New Society)
Edit：Xiong Dafei Responsible editor：Li Xiang
Source：XinHuaNet
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