The Fire-class fireboats/yard tractor tugs were two fireboats operated by the

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. The two vessels are and .

Design and construction

''Firebird'' was based at CFB Halifax, and ''Firebrand'' at CFB Esquimalt. According to the '' Canadian American Strategic Review'' the class was designed by naval architects

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, and were built at Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver in 1978, and later acquired by the

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. The two ships displaced and were long, with a

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of and a draught of . The ships were powered by two azimuthing Z-drives and one hydraulic tunnel

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

. This gave the vessels a maximum speed of . The ships had a crew of five firefighters. The Fire class was equipped with three manually-controlled water cannons, two diesel-driven fire pumps capable of expending 2,500 gpm at 150

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each.

Ships in class

Service history

In 2008, ''Firebird'' helped extinguish a fire aboard the former Canadian Coast Guard vessel in Halifax harbour. On 4 December 2012 the Department of National Defence published a Letter of Interest (LOI)/Request for Information (RFI) for Canadian shipbuilders interested in building replacements for the Glen-class tugs¸ and Fire-class fireboats. A single class would replace both the tugs and the fireboats, and would be operated by civilian crews. The replacement vessels would have water cannons that could be controlled remotely, by a single individual. The replacement vessels would have bollard pull of 40 tons—almost six times as much as the 7.5 tons the Fire-class vessels are capable of. On 29 January 2014, the availability of ''Firebird'' to fight fires was reduced due to budget cuts, being on standby only during weekdays during normal working hours. On 4 December 2014, ''Firebird'' was taken out of service in Halifax, and placed on the disposal list as a result of budget cuts. The ship will be replaced using tugboats from around the harbour.

Replacement

On 29 April 2019 the Government of Canada announced

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was awarded the contract to build four tow-tug/rescue vessels to replace both the Fire-class fireboat/tractor tugs and Glen-class yard tugs with delivery expected from 2021 to 2023. The new tugs will be staffed by civilian crews and be restricted to the naval base/yard only.

References

Ships of Canada Tugboats of the Royal Canadian Navy Auxiliary fireboat classes {{Canada-mil-stub