Former FDNY Fireboat Fire Fighter now a museum ship

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Hello GCaptain Forums -

This is my first post here after a number of years lurking, and I hope this is in the right thread for this post since I figure it fits here better than the Fire Dept/Rescue service thread.

I’m a trustee and historian for the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum, a non-profit established last year and as of October 2012 the current owners of the 1938-built former FDNY fireboat [I]Fire Fighter[/I]. The Fighter was until 2003 the world’s most powerful fireboat in terms of pumping capacity at 20,000GPM and during her 71-year frontline career she fought well over 50 major fires, ranging from the [I]SS Normandie/USS Lafayette [/I]fire to the 9/11 attacks. Probably her best-known action came in 1973 when she and her crew fought through burning-oil covered seas to rescue 30 crewmen trapped aboard the [I]C/V Sea Witch[/I] after her collision with the tanker [I]SS Esso Brus[/I]sels in lower New York Harbor. Fighter and her crew earned both the 1974 American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy and the Department of Commerce Gallant Ship Award, the only fireboat to have received either of these awards.

The Fighter retired from frontline service in 2010 when her replacement Fire Fighter II assumed the post at homeport Staten Island as Marine 9. Since we have taken ownership of the Fighter, we have relocated her to Greenport, NY on Long Island’s North Shore and are in the process of restoring her as a museum ship and memorial. She is fully operational and made the transit from Brooklyn to Greenport under the command of a mixed volunteer crew of present and former FDNY Marine Unit crewmen and professional mariners. Now that we are in Greenport, we are seeking professional mariners and firefighters both active and retired, who would be interested in helping us restore and operate the Fighter. As the historian, I’d love to hear from anyone who has stories or knows people who have experiences involving the [I]Fire Fighter[/I] during their careers so we can start building a detailed history of the ship from those who served aboard and were directly affected by her operations.

If you’d like to find out more about the [I]Fire Fighter [/I]or would like to contact us or find out how to help, please visit our website:
[SIZE=6][SUP]http://fireboatfirefighter.org/
Thanks!!
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