''Duwamish'' is a retired

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She is the second oldest vessel designed to fight fires in the US, after '' Edward M. Cotter'', in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

Career

''Duwamish'' was built in 1909 for the

Seattle Fire Department The Seattle Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The department is responsible for an area of , including of waterfront, with a population of 713,700. There is ...

Richmond Beach, Washington Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is located between the city limits of Seattle and the Snohomish County border, approximately north of Downtown Seattle. As of the 2020 census, the population of Shoreline was 58 ...

, just north of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. She was powered by "double vertical (compound) marine steam engines" capable of driving her at . She was equipped with three

American LaFrance American LaFrance (ALF) was an American vehicle manufacturer which focused primarily on the production of fire engines, fire aerials, and emergency apparatus such as ambulance and rescue vehicles. Originally located in Elmira, New York, the fi ...

steam piston pumps rated at a capacity of each. She was originally designed to ram and sink burning wooden vessels, as a last resort, and was equipped with a ram bow for doing so. On July 30, 1914, ''Duwamish'' was involved in fighting the fire on the Grand Trunk Pacific dock. In the 1930s, as a cost-saving measure, the Seattle City Council directed that ''Duwamish'' be used as a tug to push the city's garbage scow. After an upgrade in 1949, the

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...

s delivered a total of . This capacity was only exceeded in 2003 by the

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

's ''

Warner Lawrence ''Warner Lawrence'' is a fireboat owned and operated by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in Los Angeles. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in the early 2000s, ''Warner Lawrence'' was built in Washington and delivered to San Pedro on 21 May 20 ...

'', which delivers . ''Duwamish'' is long with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. Her registered gross tonnage is .

Current status

Retired in 1985, ''Duwamish'' was purchased by the Puget Sound Fireboat Foundation. She is permanently moored at the Historic Ships Wharf near the

Museum of History & Industry The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...

South Lake Union Park Lake Union Park is a park located at the south end of Lake Union in Seattle, Washington in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The park is owned by the City of Seattle and operated by Seattle Parks and Recreation. The park property was gradual ...

in Seattle. Visitors may board the vessel when volunteer staff is available. ''Duwamish'' was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1989. and
She is a city landmark.

Career

Current status

See also