Page 14: of Marine News Magazine (July 2011)

BOAT OF THE MONTH In April 2011, The Chicago Fire Department took delivery of a new Fireboat to replace the aging Victor L. Schlaeger. The vessel was named in memory of Firefighter Christopher Wheatley, who lost his life in active duty in 2010. The new vessel was designed by Robert Allan Ltd., naval architects of Vancouver BC, and was built by Hike Metal Products of Wheatley, Ontario. This fireboat is one of several fireboats designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built in Canada for U.S. cities in recent years, signifying one of the few market segments available to Canadian shipyards under the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. The new fireboat sailed under its own power from Wheatley to Chicago through the Great Lakes. The fireboat was designed and built to operate year- round in Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, and sur- rounding harbors, which includes up to one foot of first year ice. The combination of a very shallow operating draft and an equally limiting air draft presented a signifi- cant design challenge, especially regarding weight estima- tion: if too heavy the vessel would near the bottom of the shallow river; if too light it would run afoul of the numer- ous low height bridges that grace the Chicago River through downtown Chicago. The new fireboat will be used to respond to any firefighting, rescue, hazmat decon- tamination, dive support operations and other waterway related responses. The Christopher Wheatley was built in accordance with American Bureau of Shipping regulations for steel vessels, but was not so classed. The vessel was also designed to comply with NFPA Type III Standards for fireboats. The propulsion machinery consists of a pair of CAT C32 high-speed diesel engines each rated 1,081 kW at 2,300 rpm. These each drive a fixed pitch, 1,371 mm diameter propeller through a ZF model W4610 reverse- reduction gearbox. The fire-fighting capability is provided by two completely independent pump engines, also CAT model C32 diesels, each rated 745 kW at 1,800 rpm anddriving an FFS model SFP250 x 350 fire pump, rated 7,000 gal per hour at 150 psi.Fireboat for Chicago Photo courtesy Robert Allan Ltd14MNJuly 2011Specifications (RAnger 2700 Class):Length, o.a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 ft Beam, molded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 ft Depth, molded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.2 ft Max operating draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.5 ft Max air draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 ft Capacities:Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4,150 gal Portable water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 gal Fire-fighting foam . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 gal Water ballast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,180 gal Performance: Bollard pull, ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 tones Free running speed, ahead . . . . . . .13 knots