Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays, 21, is on trial at a San Diego Navy base accused of setting the 2020 fire on the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard
A 19-year-old San Diego sailor was so unhappy with his life as a deck seaman after failing to become a Navy SEAL that, in the summer of 2020, he snuck into a vehicle storage area on the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard and ignited a spark, according to Navy prosecutors. That spark turned into a blaze that, over the next four days, burned and destroyed the $1.2 billion dollar warship, they said.
When sailors fail to complete BUD/S they are sent to the fleet Navy as so-called “undesignated” sailors — meaning they do not receive specialty job training or follow-on schools before reporting to their first duty stations. Haggerty said Mays was determined to get back into an elite program, be it the SEALS or Explosive Ordinance Disposal, and had not given up on the Navy.Eight former Bonhomme Richard sailors on the ship that morning testified Monday, including three who were the first to venture into the so-called “lower V” area and see the fire’s origin.
Lt. Cmdr. Jordi Torres, Mays’ lead defense attorney, questioned Beals for more than three hours in a somewhat combative cross-examination. Torres questioned Beals’ conclusion of arson despite the discovery of lithium-ion batteries — which Beals conceded have been known to start fires — among the debris near the burned boxes in the lower V.