Guardians of The City SFFD Home Page - San Francisco Fire Department Museum
SFFD Fireboats:

Dennis T. Sullivan

Launching Dennis T. Sullivan Dennis Sullivan Engine Room
   
Dennis T. Sullivan Fireboat 9-28-1954 Dennis T. Sullivan Fireboat
   
Dennis T. Sullivan Fireboat Dennis T. Sullivan Fireboat at Ship Fire

Year Built: 1909

Builder: Risdon Iron & Locomotive Company, San Francisco

Description: Built as a fireboat with a manifold system, four deck turrets, one 55 foot telescoping mast turret, and hose lockers.

Cost: $139,809

Length: 120 feet
Beam: 26 feet
Draft: 12 feet
Displacement: 272 tons

Propulsion: twin screw, steam

Engines: 2 cross-compound vertical condensing steam engines with two Babcock-Wilcox oil burning boilers
Both engines were turned over at least four times a day.

Pumps: 2 steam turbines, Byron-Jackson multi-stage centrifugal pumps rated at 4,500 GPM each and each on a common shaft driven by a steam turbine rated capacity 10,000 GPM at 150 PSI,

Fuel: Bunker C (Heavy fuel oil)

Steering: steam powered

Winch: steam powered

Generator: 1 10 KW gasoline powered

Crew: 1 fireboat officer, 1 fireboat pilot, 2 fireboat engineers, 2 stokers and 7 hoseman
Members of fireboat companies could be identified at fires and other emergences by their all yellow helmets.

Service History:
1909  Fireboat Company No. 1, Embarcadero at the foot of Harrison Street
1917  Assigned to new quarters at Pier 22 ½
1920  January 1st, Placed in reserve, lack of funds
1921  July 1st, Fireboat Company No. 1 reactivated
1954  May, the Fireboat Dennis T. Sullivan was de-commissioned and retired from service
1954  Scrapped. Sold and towed to a Long Beach scrap yard.

Monitors:
2 monitors, forward and aft.
1 telescopic tower
2 portable batteries, with six locations to connect from
All are equipped with Gorter nozzles with removable tips from 2" to 3"
The gate valves for the monitors and tower are operated hydraulically from positions near the batteries

Water Curtain:
A perforated pipe extends around the deck house with controls both port and starboard

Manifolds:
2, both on top of main house with ten 3 ½ inch outlets, goose-necked and reduced to 3 inches
Each manifold outlet is numbered 1 to 20, and at each valve there is a leather strap with a brass tag numbered to correspond with the outlet.  As lines are lead they are tagged to ID them to allow a fast shut down without tracing all lines.

Searchlight:
1 18 inch CH light

Skiffs:
2 'metallic' life boats on deck
1 skiff on stern

Hose:
2000 feet 3 ½ inch, on main deck
4000 feet 3 ½ inch, aft hold
1000 feet 1 ½ inch, aft deck
Note: deck loaded hose is in water tight compartments

Ladders:
2 - 20 foot straight ladders on deck house

Equipment:

12 axes
3 bumpers, hose
5 block and tackle
4 Babcock 6 gallon extinguishers
6 circulators, Gorter
2 circulators, federal
6 chisels, diamond point
6 chisels, cold
2 crow bars, large
2 crow bars, small
4 cots, sleeping
12 forks, pitch
1 field glass
2 gloves, rubber, pr.
4 handles, 3 ½ inch
4 hose handles, 3 inch
12 hooks, hay
2 hammers, sledge
2 helmets, Gibbs oxygen
1 light, head
3 mauls
9 tips, assorted
2 ropes, life, 200 feet
4 stretchers
2 pliers, pair.
20 reducers, 3 ½ - 3 inch
4 reducers, 3 - 2 ½ inch
1 reducer, 2 ½ - 1 inch
5 reducers, bell, 3 - 1 ½ inch
4 increasers, 2 ½ - 3 inch
2 increasers, 3 -3 ½ inch
4 double males, 3 inch
4 double, female, 3 inch
5 pipes, 3-way
8 pipes, 2-way
6 pipes, Gorter
6 pipes, 1 ½ inch
1 pipe, chemical
3 standees, 3-way
2 standees, 2-way
6 standees, single
6 saddles, rail
4 spanners, large
4 spanners, high pressure
12 spanners, small
18 spanners, battery
1 Sullivan dock pipe
6 shovels, small
4 shovels, large
2 saws cross, cut
3 3-ways, complete
3 2-ways, complete
2 siamese, McLaughlin
2 siamese, 2 ½ - 1 ½ inch
4 siamese, 3 - 1 ½ inch
2 punches, backing out
1 search light, portable
1 lead line
1 fog pump
1 towing hawser
6 charts

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