A fire broke out Wednesday afternoon, August 20, aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18). The ship was anchored near White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan. The fire was declared extinguished at 4 a.m., August 21. Two Sailors were taken to New Orleans’ medical for minor injuries. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

According to a statement from the 7th fleet, firefighting efforts by the New Orleans sailors were also supported by the crew of the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22), which is moored at White Beach Naval Facility. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan Coast Guard, and US Navy commands from across Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa also provided critical support to the firefighting efforts.

New Orleans’ crew will remain aboard the ship. Additional services and berthing are available aboard San Diego and Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa, if needed.

The fire could further hinder the availability of amphibious warships when the Navy is already struggling with readiness issues within the fleet. The readiness rate of amphibious ships critical to Marine missions has dropped to 41%, a defense official told Military Times earlier this week.  The lack of available amphibious warfare ships, known as amphibs, resulted in a more than five-month gap in Marine Expeditionary Unit deployments this year. 

In 2020, a fire aboard the former big deck amphibious warship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) burned for four days, resulting in the loss of the ship. The Navy subsequently overhauled how the service fights fires in port.

Thanks to Alaric Bond and David Rye for contributing to this post.