NEW FIRE CRAFT
GIVEN TO WATER

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Third of Municipally Owned
Fleet Launched
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Boat Especially Designed for
Quick Service
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Trial Run Exceeds Builder's
Expectations
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The port's third fire boat, Los Angeles City No. 3 was launched yesterday afternoon at the Wilmington yards of Fellows & Stewart, her builders, in the presence of a large group of city officials. Miss Edna Werdin, daughter of the Board of Fire Commissioners, broke the conventional bottle across her bows as the trim craft skid down the ways.

Designed particularly for the protection of Los Angles Harbor's $6,000,000 yacht fleet and for other small craft at the port, the new boat is only forty feet long and has a cruising speed of twenty knots, driven by a 290-horsepower Sterling Dolphin special gasoline engine. She was designed by James Shuck, chief engineer of her builders, and immediately after the launching, exceeded her contract speed in a trial run. She cost $12,000.

Her main firefighting machinery consists of two centrifugal pumps which throw 250 gallons of salt water each per minute. For extinguishing gasoline and oil fires on small craft, she has three C-02 tanks, the vapor from which is fed upon the fire by means of a special hallow battering ram. This ram, the invention of Maynard Laswell, serves the double purpose of a hose and a ram to break in the ports of a burning boat.

In addition the craft is equipped with a new 500-gallon Foamite system, which mixes the Foamite fluid with water and then delivers the foam directly on the oil fire.

Fire Chief Ralph J. Scott, who designed the main technical features of the Los Angeles City No. 3, declared after her trial trip yesterday that she exceeded his expectations in performance.

"She meets a very obvious need for a craft that will enable the port fire chief to get to the scene of a ship fire as quickly as possible after the alarm, where he can direct operations before the arrival of the bigger and slower fire boats," said Chief Scott. 

Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1928

NEW FIRE BOAT
CHRISTENED AT
L. A. HARBOR

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Daughter of Fire Commissioner
Breaks Bottle on Prow of Fast
New Patrol Craft at Port
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BY FRANK J. QUINLIN

With the shattering of a be-ribboned bottle of some undetermined liquid on the prow by Miss Edna Werdin, daughter of E. R. Werdin, president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, Los Angeles Harbor's new fireboat, No. 3, slid off the ways at the Fellows & Stewart boat works at 2:15 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

It was a notable assemblage that witnessed the christening and launching. The City Council, fire commission and harbor board were well represented and there was a scattering of other city officials on hand. They had exchanged felicities in short talks at luncheon in the California Yacht club immediately before the launching.

Miss Werdin was presented with a bouquet by Chief Ralph J. Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Other fire department notables present included Assistant Chiefs Jack C. Baly and George A. Kelly of the harbor division.

Fireboat No. 3 is designed as a scout and fire boat with a speed of twenty land miles an hour. Its chief function is to carry the assistant chiefs to the scene of a harbor fire with dispatch. Now they must drive by circuitous roads to waterfront fires, with consequent loss of time and efficiency.

The boat will speed from Fireboat No. 2 house to the First street landing, San Pedro, as soon as a fire is reported. There the officer in charge of the division at the time will board, to be whisked to the scene. The boat is 40 feet long, 10 feet in beam, and powered by a 250 horsepower motor. Its pumping capacity will be 250 gallons a minute, and it has special chemical equipment. Thus, it can be used to augment the two big fireboats in actually fighting a fire as well as rushing the chief to the blaze.

Eight men will be added to the harbor fire fighting forces to man the new boat. They are Claude F. Oliver, Alfred Huff, John M. Flanagan, Henry D. Jones, Ervin J. Cody, Andrew Cole, Rudolph Olson and H. J. Johnson.  

March 16, 1928

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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