Peterson Awarded Contract To Build Fireboat For Detroit

Peterson Builders, Inc. of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., has been awarded a contract with the City of Detroit to construct and deliver a 77-foot high-speed aluminum fireboat.

The hull of the vessel, specially designed for operation in the ice-filled waters of the Detroit River and the surrounding Seaway, will be about 78 feet long, 22 feet wide and 9 feet deep with a draft of less than 6 feet. The boat is designed for a speed of over 20 knots, and with all four fire pumps in operation can deliver 9,700 gallons per minute.

Included in the firefighting gear on the boat are four, 4-inch deluge monitors and a 50-foot telescoping ladder tower which enables the vessel's captain to direct water down into burning ships or on shoreside installations ; the ladder on the telescoping tower also permits access to and evacuation from waterfront buildings or ships. A foam system enables it to fight petroleum fires.

Unique features of the craft are stern propulsion jets and bow thruster nozzles which operate from the fire main. This feature enables the fire pump engines to augment the main engines and propellers, giving an additional speed boost to the craft in dash responses to fire calls. The bow thruster nozzles are of great benefit when maneuvering in close quarters.

Three of the vessel's pumps deliver firefighting water at a pressure of 150 pounds per square inch; but a fourth pump, driven from one main propulsion engine, is rated at 400 pounds per square inch. This high pressure is necessary to provide protection to some of the towering buildings along Detroit's recently rebuilt waterfront.

Electrical power will be furnished by two 50-kw diesel generator sets. All of the propulsion and generating engines, appropriately, will be Detroit Diesel and include 12V-149 propulsion engines, 12V-71 main pump engines and model 3-71 generators.

The contract design of the vessel was prepared by John W. Gilbert Associates, Inc. of Boston, Mass., designers of several successful fireboats constructed in recent years.

The new vessel adds further to PBI's aluminum building diversity, and supplements current contracts for construction of 50- foot and 65-foot aluminum patrol boats and 190-foot gunboats.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 12, Jan 1978

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.