Captain Crotty was Houston, Texas's second fireboat. [1] Commissioned in 1950, she replaced Port Houston. [2] [3] She was joined by Houston's third fireboat, Captain J.L. Farnsworth in 1973. In 1983, she was retired and replaced by J.S. Bracewell and Howard T. Tellepsen. [4]
Captain Crotty was 79 feet (24 m) long, and built by R.T.C Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey. [2] According to Motorboating magazine, she was "highly maneuverable" and built to a "relatively inexpensive" design. She was named after Charles Crotty, who had been assistant director of the port. [5] The name was chosen through a contest. [6] After her retirement, she was sold to Ocean Diving Adventures Incorporated for $50,000. [7]
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.