Fireboats of New York City is a catalog of present and past fireboats used in the city since the late 19th century.[1] As one of the busiest ports in the world, New York City has often maintained a fleet of as many as ten fireboats.
In recent decades technology has improved to where smaller boats can provide the pumping capacity that required a large boat in the past.[2] These smaller boats require smaller crews, and the crews themselves require less training. Like many other cities the FDNY operates a fleet with a smaller number of large fireboats, supplmented by a number of unnamed boats in the 10 meter range.[3]
| image | name | commissioned | retired | dimensions | pumping capacity |
notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
John Fuller | 1865 | 1875 | A chartered tug that provided firefighting prior to city purchasing a fireboat.[4] | ||
 |
William F. Havemeyer | 1875 | 1901 | 106'x22'x10' | 6000 gpm | The first fireboat owned by New York City.[5] |
 |
Zophar Mills | 1882 | 1934 | 120'x25'x12' | 6000 gpm | |
 |
Seth Low | 1885 | 1917 | 99'x24'x9' | 3500 gpm | Brooklyn FD |
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The New Yorker | 1890 | 1931 | 125'x26'x12' | 13,000 gpm | |
 |
David A. Boody | 1892 | 1914 | 105'x23'x7' | 6500 gpm | |
 |
William L. Strong | 1898 | 1948 | 100'x24'x12.6' | 6500 gpm | |
 |
Abram S. Hewitt | 1903 | 1958 | 117'x25'x10'6" | 7000 gpm | |
 |
George B. McClellan | 1904 | 1954 | 117'x24'x9'6" | 7000 gpm | |
 |
James Duane | 1908 | 1959 | 132'x28'x10' | 9000 gpm | |
 |
Thomas Willett | 1908 | 1959 | 132'x28'x10' | 9000 gpm | |
| Cornelius W. Lawrence | 1908 | 1955 | 104'6"x23'6"x9' | 7000 gpm | ||
 |
Velox | 1907 | 1922 | 68'x11'6"x7' | ||
 |
William J. Gaynor | 1914 | 1961 | 118'x25'x13.4' | 7000 gpm | |
| John Purroy Mitchel | 1921 | 1966 | 132'x27'x10' | 9000 gpm | ||
| Captain Connell | 1922 | 1938 | 56'6"x12'x6'6" | |||
 |
John J. Harvey | 1931 | 1999 | 130'x28'x9' | 18,000 gpm | now a private excursion vessel |
 |
Fire fighter | 1938 | 1999 | 134'x32'x9' | 20,000 gpm | Now a museum ship |
| Smoke | 1938 | 1955 | 53'x7'x3.5' | |||
 |
John D. Mc Kean | 1954 | 2010 | 129'x30'x9' | 19,000 gpm | held in retired status |
| H. Sylvia A. H. G. Wilks | 1958 | 1972 | 105'6"x27'x9' | 8000 gpm | ||
| Harry M. Archer M. D. | 1958 | 1994 | 105'6"x27'x9' | 8000 gpm | ||
| Smoke II | 1958 | 2008 | 52'x14'x4' | 2000 gpm | ||
| Senator Robert F. Wagner | 1959 | 1993 | 105'6"x27'x9' | 8000 gpm | ||
 |
Governor Alfred E. Smith | 1961 | 2015 | 105'6"x27'x9' | 8000 gpm | |
 |
John H. Glenn, Jr. | 1962 | 1977 | 70'x21'x5' | 5000 gpm | Now serving in Washington DC |
| John P. Devaney | 1992 | 1994 | 70'x19'x5'4" | 7075 gpm | named after a firefighter who died in the line of duty | |
| Alfred E. Ronaldson | 1992 | 1994 | 70'x19'x5'4" | 7075 gpm | named after a firefighter who died in the line of duty | |
 |
Kevin C. Kane | 1992 | ? | 52'x16'x4'6" | 6500 gpm | |
 |
Bravest | 2011 | - | 64'x17' | 6000 gpm | fastest fireboat of its size[6] |
 |
Fire Fighter II | 2010 | - | 50,000 gpm | one of the largest fireboats in North America[6] | |
 |
Three Forty Three | 2010 | - | 50,000 gpm | one of the largest fireboats in North America[6] | |
 |
William M. Feehan | 2015 | - | 68' | 8,000 gpm | ` 40 knots[7] |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clarence E. Meek (July 1954). Fireboats Through The Years. Retrieved on 2015-06-28.
- ↑ Brian J. Cudahy. Around Manhattan Island, Fordham University Press, 1997, pp. 83, 86. Retrieved on 2015-06-29.
- ↑ FDNY Annual Report 2012, FDNY, 2012. Retrieved on 2015-06-30. “Additionally, FDNY expects to take delivery of the following 10 boats by January 2013: seven 33-foot boats, two 31-foot medical response boats and one 33-foot SCUBA boat.”
- ↑ Edward Hudson. Fireboats on job in city a century, New York Times, 1972-10-29, p. 63. Retrieved on 2017-11-09.
- ↑ James H. Ford, 99, Civil War Veteran: Drummer Boy in '61, Captain of City's First Fireboat, Dies —Once a Texas Ranger, New York Times, 1944-07-24, p. 15. Retrieved on 2017-11-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Peter Marsh. SAFE Boats International Delivers One of the World's Fastest Fireboats to New York: The 64-foot Bravest Made Its Debut in Seattle, NW Yachting magazine, February 2011. Retrieved on 2015-06-28.
- ↑ Peter Kennedy. Kingston-built fireboat immortalizes 9/11 victim, Kingston Whig Standard, 2015-08-06. Retrieved on 2015-08-10. “Just shy of 21 metres in length, the William M. Feehan is powered by a trio of Caterpillar C-18 engines, each capable of pushing out 1,150 horsepower, with twin fuel tanks splitting 4,500 litres. Running at a top speed of 40 knots (about 75 km/h), it can stop in two boat lengths.”