The missing fireboat in the Bonhomme Richard response

What is the key lesson from the fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard?

Major naval facilities need a dedicated fireboat as part of their ship-fire response.

The absence of a proper fireboat was a central failure in the Bonhomme Richard disaster response. A ship in maintenance may have disrupted onboard systems, open compartments, and obstructed access routes. A naval base handling large hulls therefore needs waterborne firefighting capacity able to attack the fire from outside. The lesson is institutional rather than ship-specific: shore emergency infrastructure must remain effective when the casualty disables the systems normally expected to contain it.