John J. Harvey

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Not to be confused with SS John Harvey.
Fireboat John J. Harvey 1.jpg
Fireboat John J. Harvey
History
Flag of the City of New YorkNew York City Fire Department
NameJohn J. Harvey
NamesakeJohn J. Harvey
Port of registryNew York City, United States
Ordered1928
BuilderTodd Shipbuilding
Cost$594,000
Laid down1930
LaunchedOctober 6, 1931
CommissionedDecember 17, 1931
In serviceDecember 17, 1931
Out of service1995
Renamed
  • Engine 57 (1931)
  • Engine 86 (1938)
  • Marine 2 (1959)(2001)
ReclassifiedMuseum ship
Refit1957
ReinstatedTemporary return to service 9/11/2001
HomeportNorth River Pier 66, New York City (As of 2019)
Nickname(s)The "Harvey"
Honors and
awards		National Preservation Award
StatusFDNY retired
General characteristics
TypeFireboat
Displacement268 net tons
Length130 ft (40 m)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power5 Fairbanks - Morse opposed piston Model 38F5¼ which consist of 8 cylinders with 16 pistons.
PropulsionTwin screws
Speed18 knots
Capacity18,000gpm
ArmamentEight deck monitors and 24 large connections for fire hose
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
John J. Harvey is located in New York City
John J. Harvey
Location in New York City
Coordinates40°45′0″N 74°0′39″W / 40.75000°N 74.01083°W / 40.75000; -74.01083Coordinates: 40°45′0″N 74°0′39″W / 40.75000°N 74.01083°W / 40.75000; -74.01083
Built1931
Built byTodd Shipyards
Architect
NRHP reference No.00000576[1]
Added to NRHPJune 15, 2000

John J. Harvey is a fireboat formerly of the New York City Fire Department in New York City, famed for returning to service following the September 11, 2001 attacks.[2][3] She is among the most powerful fireboats ever built, capable of pumping up to 18,000 gallons of water a minute.

Launched in 1931, John J. Harvey had a distinguished career in the FDNY until her retirement in 1994. She was named for marine fireman John J. Harvey, killed when a ship exploded during a fire. Among the marine fires at which she assisted were the Cunard Line pier fire in 1932, the burning of Normandie in 1942, the ammunition ship El Estero in 1943,[4] and the collision of the oil tankers Alva Cape and Texaco Massachusetts in 1966. Her official designation at the end of her career was Marine 2.

John J. Harvey was sold, at auction, in 1999, to a private consortium of marine preservationists determined to prevent her from being scrapped. In June 2000 she was added to the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. Her current owners have thoroughly restored her, and host frequent free trips on the river. She is currently moored at North River Pier 66, located at 12th Avenue and 26th Street on the Hudson River.

In 2018, she was repainted at the Caddell Dry Dock, Staten Island, in a red and white dazzle pattern as part of an art project by Tauba Auerbach, in commemoration of the dazzle camouflage used on World War I ships.[5]

September 11, 2001[]

John J. Harvey had an unexpected encore. Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the boat's owners asked FDNY officials for permission to assist in evacuations from Ground Zero.[6] Meanwhile, firefighters had determined that the vast scale of destruction had damaged many fire mains, depriving fire crews of water. Officials radioed John J. Harvey, asking if her pumps still worked. Responding that they did, she was told to drop off her passengers as soon as possible and return to the disaster site, reactivating her official designation Marine 2. Alongside two other FDNY fireboats, John D. McKean and Fire Fighter, she pumped water at the site for 80 hours, until water mains were restored.[7] The National Trust for Historic Preservation gave John J. Harvey a special National Preservation Award to recognize this incident. John J. Harvey's story was the subject of a 2002 children's book.

Onboard view of John J. Harvey in Tauba Auerbach dazzle camouflage performing a water pumping demonstration in Oyster Bay, New York at Oyster Festival 2018

References[]

Notes

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ official site, fireboat.org
  3. ^ The Maritime Evacuation of Manhattan on September 11, 2001 Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/ThiesenElEstero.pdf The El Estero Fire
  5. ^ "Historic NYC fireboat dons 'dazzle' paint".
  6. ^ "Historic Fireboat Aids in New York City Response and Recovery at the World Trade Center". National Park Service. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ^ Attaway, Roy (August 2003). "Born-Again Hero". Power & Motor Yacht. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.

Further reading

  • Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey, by Maira Kalman, 2002. ISBN 0-399-23953-7\

External links[]

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