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FDNY Fireboat Fleet List

Photo Courtesy collection of Al Trojanowicz

The New York Fire Department operated the largest fleet of fireboats. All fireboats before Harvey were steam, all since were diesel powered. The average specifications for these 28 fireboats was about 100' in length, over 7000 gallons per minute (gpm) pump capacity, with a speed of 15 knots.

This list includes all vessels built as fireboats as well as the four tenders Velox, Captain Connell, Smoke, and Smoke II. Tenders were used as auxiliary boats to assist the big fireboats or as command stations for Chiefs. Some tenders had limited pumping capacity.

Pier A with Harvey, Wagner and Smith (l to r),
as seen from the "pipe deck" of Fire Fighter.

In the late 19th century the City of Brooklyn had a Fire Department almost as large as New York's. When the two cities were consolidated in 1898, the Brooklyn fireboats Seth Low and David A. Boody joined the FDNY fleet.

Delivery of the four 105' boats of the Wilks class, almost completely dieselized the fleet by 1961. Only one steam fireboat remained on the roster.

Starting in the 1960s, FDNY sporadically used some converted commercial hulls in seasonal service in outlying parts of the harbor. Some were equipped with small pumps. These fast motorboats were used primarily for water rescues or emergencies. They are not included in this list.

Another class not included here were boats not belonging to FDNY but equipped with pumps that could be pressed into service for firefighting when needed. Their use was restricted to the 19th century as the FDNY fleet was being built up. These were the steam tugs John Fuller and Protector, and the Police Department's steamboat Seneca.

In the 19th century the awesome pumping power of fireboats was quickly proven as the only solution to fighting fires that were either uncontrollable or inaccessible with conventional apparatus. The same principle holds true today, and it can still be said that "when you need a fireboat, nothing else will do!".

Fireboat Zophar Mills

Fireboat Thomas Willett
Engine 78 in the East River

Fireboat Cornelius W. Lawrence

Fireboat John Purroy Mitchel

Fireboat John J. Harvey
Courtesy of the
Steamship Historical Society
of America Collection

Fireboat Fire Fighter

Fireboat John D. McKean
in the Hudson River

Fireboat John H. Glenn, Jr.

Fireboat John P. Devaney

Fireboat Kevin C. Kane

The list

WILLIAM F. HAVEMEYER (1875-1901)
106'x22'x10'. 6000 gpm.

ZOPHAR MILLS (1882-1934)
120'x25'x12'. 6000 gpm.

SETH LOW (1885-1917)
99'x24'x9'. 3500 gpm.

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.

FIRE FIGHTER (1938- )
134'x32'x9'. 20,000 gpm.

SMOKE (1938-1955)
53'x7'x3.5'.

JOHN D. MC KEAN (1954- )
129'x30'x9'. 19,000 gpm.

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- )
52'x14'x4'. 2000 gpm.

SENATOR ROBERT F. WAGNER (1959-1993)
105'6"x27'x9'. 8000 gpm.

GOVERNOR ALFRED E. SMITH (1961- )
105'6"x27'x9'. 8000 gpm.

JOHN H. GLENN, JR. (1962-1977)
70'x21'x5'. 5000 gpm.

JOHN P. DEVANEY (1992-1994)
70'x19'x5'4" 7075 gpm.

ALFRED E. RONALDSON (1992-1994)
70'x19'x5'4" 7075 gpm.

KEVIN C. KANE (1992- )
52'x16'x4'6". 6500 gpm.

» Read how the FDNY fleet changed

» See more photos of the FDNY fleet

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Eric Weisler

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