FDNY Fireboat Three
Forty Three
Commissioned, Helps
Kick Off Fleet Week
FDNY Insider 5/27/10
It was a big day for
the FDNY’s new
fireboat Three Forty
Three.
On May 26 the
fireboat was
commissioned during
a beautiful tribute
ceremony at the
Intrepid Sea, Air
and Space Museum,
just hours after it
led the parade of
boats up the Hudson
River to kick off
Fleet Week.
Named in honor of
the 343 FDNY members
killed on Sept. 11,
2001, and with steel
on the bow and stern
from the World Trade
Center, the fireboat
is the world’s
largest.
“Anyone on her deck
will feel her power
and know she has
been forged by the
strength of the New
York City Fire
Department,” said
Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. “Over her
lifetime, the Three
Forty Three – like
the people she is
named after – will
save many lives.”
The 140-foot,
500-ton, $27 million
dollar boat has the
ability to pump
50,000 gallons of
water per minute.
And at a top speed
of 18 knots, the
boat can move twice
as fast as older
boats.
“The Three Forty
Three sends a
powerful message to
the world – that our
city and the Fire
Department are
stronger than ever,”
said Fire
Commissioner
Salvatore Cassano.
The boat has been
designed to detect
and protect
firefighters from
chemical,
biological,
radiological and
nuclear agents, and
contains a
pressurized area
that filters the air
supply using special
charcoal and
high-efficiency
particulate air (HEPA)
filters; allowing
crew members to
operate as needed in
hostile
environments.
Decontamination and
first aid can be
handled aboard the
ship as well by
means of a de-con
shower area that
leads to a triage
and first-aid
station.
“A lot of thought
was put into the
design of this
boat,” said Chief of
Special Operations
William Seelig. “You
name it, this boat
can help.”
Other innovative
designs of the Three
Forty Three include
a forward ballast
tank that lowers the
boat in the water to
match its deck with
larger ferries that
operate in the
waters around New
York City, a pilot
house configured to
allow the captain a
360-degree view of
an operation to
assist with
maneuvering the
vessel in tight
quarters, and a
command and control
area where the
ship’s officers will
be able to monitor
and direct fire
operations with the
aid of remote
cameras – including
night vision and
heat-sensing cameras
– and
state-of-the-art
communication
equipment.
There is a crew of
seven onboard the
new vessel at any
one time that now
use high-tech
computer systems to
maneuver the boat
and use its tools –
instead of the older
boats that required
brute strength.
“Everything about
this boat is
state-of-the-art,”
said Chief of the
Marine Division
James Dalton.
Pilot Charles
Stauder added,
“We’ll need to get
used to [the
technology], but it
handles beautifully
and is capable of
doing so much.”
The new boat will be
put into service in
July, after the crew
has been extensively
trained. It will
replace the
56-year-old
fireboat, the John
D. McKean.
The Three Forty
Three, and her
sister ship
Firefighter II
(currently
undergoing sea
trials in Panama
City, Fl.), were
funded in large part
by $54 million in
grants from the
Department of
Homeland Security.
The Three Forty
Three’s original
design is from naval
architectural firm
Robert Allan Ltd. of
Vancouver, B.C. The
Three Forty Three
was constructed by
