The Captain Crotty was Houston's second fireboat. [1] When commissioned in 1950 she replaced the Port Houston. [2] [3] She was joined by Houston's third fireboat, the Captain J.L. Farnsworth in 1973. In 1983 she, in turn was retired, replaced by the J.S. Bracewell and Howard T. Tellepsen . [4]
The Captain Crotty was 79 feet (24 m) long, and built in the R.T.C Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey. [2] According to Motorboating magazine she was "highly maneuverable", while built to a "relatively inexpensive" design.
After she was retired she was sold to Ocean Diving Adventures Incorporated, for $50,000. [5]
She was named after Charles Crotty, who had been assistant director of the Port. [6] The name was picked through a contest. [7]
SS Noronic was a Canadian passenger ship that was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour in September 1949 with the loss of at least 118 lives.
Edward M. Cotter is a fireboat in use by the Buffalo Fire Department at Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally named William S. Grattan, it was built in 1900 by the Crescent Shipyard of Elizabeth Port, New Jersey. Due to age, it was rebuilt in 1953 and renamed Firefighter upon its return to service. The following year it was renamed Edward M. Cotter. its namesake, Edward Cotter, was a Buffalo firefighter and leader of the local firefighters union who had recently died.
Normac is a floating restaurant boat that was launched as a fire tug, named the James R. Elliot. She was built at the Jenks Shipbuilding Company in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1902.
Ralph J. Scott, also formerly known as Fireboat #2, is a 100-foot (30 m) fireboat that was attached to the Los Angeles Fire Department serving the Port of Los Angeles. She was retired in 2003 after 78 years and replaced by Warner L. Lawrence. Ralph J. Scott is undergoing restoration near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro. On 30 June 1989, she was listed as a National Historic Landmark. She is currently located at the Los Angeles Fire Department, Fire Station 112, at 444 South Harbor Blvd, Berth 86, San Pedro, California.
The Alki is a fireboat noted for its long service in Seattle, Washington. The boat was built in 1927 and is 123 feet (37 m) long. She was Seattle's third fireboat. She was built with gasoline engines, which were replaced with diesels in 1947. The new engine retrofit allowed the Alki to increase its pumping capacity from 12,000 gallons per minute to 16,200 gallons per minute. She replaced the Snoqualmie, Seattle's first fireboat.
Francisco Morazan was a 1,442 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1922 as Arcadia by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, for German owners. She was sold in 1934 and renamed Elbing. She was seized by the Allies in the River Elbe, Germany in May 1945, passed to the United Kingdom's Ministry of War Transport and renamed Empire Congress. In 1946, she was allocated to the Norwegian Government and renamed Brunes.
The Port of Camden is situated on east bank of the Delaware River in Camden and Gloucester City in southern New Jersey. It is one of several ports in the Delaware Valley metro area port complex and is located near the mouth of Newtown Creek opposite the Port of Philadelphia. The port is one of the nation's largest for wood products, steel, cocoa and perishable fruit.
John B. Caddell, formerly YO-140, was a 712 gross register tonnage, 185-foot (56 m), previously United States-flagged water tanker. The ship was wrecked on Staten Island due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York.
As an important river port, there has been six fireboats operated by the Detroit Fire Department.
The Abram S. Hewitt was a coal-powered fireboat operated by the Fire Department of New York City from 1903 to 1958. She was the department's last coal-powered vessel and had a pumping capacity of 7,000 gallons per minute.
Zophar Mills was a fireboat operated by the Fire Department of New York City from 1883 to 1958. She was the department's first iron-hulled vessel and had a pumping capacity of 6,000 US gal per minute.
The Fire Department of New York operated a fireboat named William J. Gaynor from 1914 to 1961.
Thomas Willett was a New York City Fire Department fireboat. She was launched in 1908 and retired in 1959. She was built as a steam-engine powered vessel with coal-fired boilers. She was converted to oil-fired boilers in 1926.
As a major port, the Philadelphia city government has operated multiple fireboats.
Samuel Q. Brown was a steam tanker built in 1920–1921 by Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation of Chester for Tide Water Oil Co., a subsidiary of Standard Oil, with intention of operating between New York and the oil-producing ports of the southern United States and Mexico.
The City of Houston and the Houston Port Authority have operated seven fireboats in Houston. The Port authority currently manages three fireboats in Houston.
The Howard T. Tellepsen was a fireboat operated by the Houston Port Authority from 1983 to 2014. She and her sister ship, the J.S. Bracewell, replaced the Port authority's second fireboat, the Captain Crotty, which had been in service since 1950. They joined the Captain J.L. Farnsworth, which had been in service since 1973.
The Port Houston, commissioned in 1926, was the first fireboat to serve the Houston area. She was replaced by the Captain Crotty in 1950.
Governor Alfred E. Smith was a fireboat first operated by the Fire Department of New York in 1961. She was the last of four sister ships. In 1970 the Department planned to retire her, but, instead, she was placed in reserve. She was finally retired on October 21, 2016. Governor Alfred E Smith was built by John H. Mathis & Company at Camden, New Jersey, yard number 216 in August 1961.
The H. Sylvia A. H. G. Wilks was a fireboat operated by the Fire Department of New York City. The Wilks, and another fireboat, the Harry M. Archer, were both commissioned on January 17, 1958 built at the John A. Mathis Company shipyard. Both vessels were 105 feet (32 m) long, displaced 292 tons, and had a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km/h). She cost $900,222.
In 1924, a fire in the hold of a steamship carrying cotton prompted the Houston Fire Commissioner to declare that the Port of Houston needed adequate firefighting apparatus to attack fires from water as well as land. A bond election to pay for the city's first fireboat passed with a wide margin. This election occurred just one day after a fire along the banks of the Houston Ship Channel spread to oil on the water and burned for more than two hours, with flames as high as 40 feet.
Captain Crotty, a new 79-foot Diesel-powered fireboat for the Port of Houston, Texas, was launched recently at the R.T.C. Shipbuilding Co., Camden, New Jersey.