Sailors struggle to remember year after Navy warship fire
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) — More than a half dozen former crewmembers of the USS Bonhomme Richard gave testimony in the arson case against a young sailor. Many who testified in the court martial of 21-year-old Ryan Sawyer Mays that started Monday described a harrowing, chaotic scene as they confronted an inferno on the Navy warship with shoddy equipment. Mays is accused of igniting the warship as it was docked for maintenance in San Diego in July 2020. Mays denies any wrongdoing. His defense lawyers say the Navy is making him a scapegoat rather than take the blame for senior officers mismanaging the ship.