Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum (Greenport, New York)

 landmark, fire service, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, museum ship

Docked at the Commercial Pier in Greenport, the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and maintaining the former FDNY Fireboat Fire Fighter as a fully operational museum ship and memorial for the enjoyment and education of future generations.

Laid down at United Shipyards on Staten Island in 1938 on the orders of then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and built to the design specifications of noted naval architect William Francis Gibbs, the Fire Fighter was launched and commissioned into FDNY service in August of 1938. By far the world's most powerful fireboat at the time she entered service, Fire Fighter's quartet of DeLaval pumps were capable of sending 20,000gpm of water through her nine topside monitors, while her twin 16-cylinder Winton diesel-electric engines were capable of propelling the vessel at speeds up to 13 knots.

Stationed first at Pier A in Manhattan, then the Bush Terminal in Brooklyn and finally at the Homeport Pier on Staten Island, Fire Fighter was the first-due fireboat of the FDNY Fleet in New York Harbor for over seven decades, always positioned nearest to where the majority of major ocean shipping and commerce was taking place.

Fighting over 50 major fires during her career, Fire Fighter was present at some of the most historic maritime emergencies in New York City's history; the 1942 fire and capsizing of the cruise liner SS Normandie, the 1943 fire and near-explosion aboard the ammunition ship SS El Estero, the 1956 Lukenbach Steamship Co. 35th St. Pier Fire, the collision of the containership Sea Witch and tanker Esso Brussels in 1973 and finally leading the FDNY marine unit response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Earning both the Gallant Ship Award and American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy for her and her crew's actions during the Esso Brussels/Sea Witch fire, the Fire Fighter stands alone among her class of ships as being the only vessel to be so honored for her service. Declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, the Fighter's final major action came in the aftermath of 9/11, where she spent over a week straight pumping at maximum capacity to supply water to ground units searching for survivors and extinguishing fires in Ground Zero.

Decommissioned into reserve by the FDNY in 2010 upon the arrival of her replacement, the aptly-named Fire Fighter II, the Fighter spent two years moored in the Brooklyn Navy Yard before the City of New York formally transferred ownership of the ship to the non-profit Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum on October 15th, 2012. The museum relocated Firefighter to her new homeport of Greenport, Long Island in February of 2013, where she currently operates as a moored museum ship and is open for tours every weekend.

www.greenportvillage.com/fireboat-fire-fighter/
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