Hearing begins for sailor accused of starting fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard

The Navy is holding a preliminary hearing on Monday for the sailor accused of starting the fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard last summer. 

Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays is charged with willful hazarding of vessel and aggravated arson, according to a charge sheet released by the U.S. 3rd Fleet.

The 3rd Fleet first announced the charges against Mays in July, a year after the blaze that injured 63 people —including 40 sailors and 23 civilians.

The fire rendered the vessel unsalvageable, and the Navy decommissioned it in November 2020.

Gary Barthel, who is representing Mays, didn’t immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.

A federal search warrant that was unsealed in August said that Mays was assigned to the ship as a seaman after dropping out of out of training to become a Navy SEAL in October 2019. 

Mays “repeatedly denied” starting the fire when interviewed by investigators, the warrant revealed. 

After he was told that he was identified as the person who entered the area where the fire started before the blaze, Mays “stated that he was being setup,” it added.

A 400-page report released by the Navy in October concluded that the loss of the ship was due to an inability to extinguish the fire, blaming both sailors and their commanding officers.

The response effort was carried out by “inadequately trained and drilled personnel from a disparate set of uncoordinated organizations that had not fully exercised together and were unfamiliar with basic issues to include the roles and responsibilities of the various responding entities,” the report stated.

“Overall, this command investigation concluded that the loss of the ship was clearly preventable, and this is unacceptable,” Naval Operations Vice Chief Adm. William Lescher told reporters in October.