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Duwamish fireboat at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Seattle
History
United States
Name	Duwamish
Builder	Richmond Beach Shipbuilding Co.
Launched	1909
Out of service	1985
Status	Museum ship
General characteristics
Tonnage	322 tons (gross)
Length	120 ft (37 m)
Beam	28 ft (8.5 m)
Depth	9.6 ft (2.9 m)
Installed power	Compound marine steam engines
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
Duwamish (fireboat)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Originally the Seattle fireboat Duwamish was built with a ram bow.
Coordinates	47°37′41″N 122°20′11″W / 47.62818°N 122.33652°W / 47.62818; -122.33652
Built	1909
Architect	Richmond Beach Shipbuilding Co.
NRHP reference No.	89001448
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 30, 1989
Designated NHL	June 30, 1989

Duwamish is a retired fireboat in the United States. She is the second oldest vessel designed to fight fires in the US, after Edward M. Cotter, in Buffalo, New York.

Career

Duwamish was built in 1909 for the Seattle Fire Department in Richmond Beach, Washington, just north of Seattle. She was powered by "double vertical (compound) marine steam engines" capable of driving her at 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph). She was equipped with three American LaFrance steam piston pumps rated at a capacity of 3,000 US gallons per minute (0.189 m/s) 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 pumps delivered a total of 22,800 US gallons per minute (1.438 m/s). This capacity was only exceeded in 2003 by the Los Angeles Fire Department's Warner Lawrence, which delivers 38,000 US gallons per minute (2.397 m/s).

Duwamish is 120 feet (36.6 m) long with a 28-foot (8.5 m) beam and a 9.6-foot (2.9 m) draft. Her registered gross tonnage is 322 short tons (292 t).

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 at South Lake Union Park in Seattle. Visitors may board the vessel when volunteer staff is available.

Duwamish was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

She is a city landmark.

See also

• Historic preservation
• Duwamish Native American tribe
• Duwamish River
• Sea Scouting (Boy Scouts of America)

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. ^ "DUWAMISH (Fireboat)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
3. ^ Delgado, James P. (1988). "Duwamish Fireboat: National Historic Landmark Study". National Park Service. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
4. ^ "National Park Service - Maritime Heritage Program: HISTORIC SHIPS TO VISIT". National Park Service. August 17, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
5. Newell, Robert G. (1957). Pacific Tugboats. Seattle: Superior Publishing.
6. "Fireboat Duwamish history". Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
7. "Fireboat Duwamish the boat". Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
8. "Los Angeles Fire Boat No. 2, The Warner L. Lawrence". lafire.com. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
9. "Puget Sound Fireboat Foundation". Retrieved August 29, 2012.
10. ^ Hsu, Charlotte (August 18, 2006). "A new life for an old boat?". Seattle Times. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
11. Broom, Jack (December 29, 2012). "History afloat outside MOHAI". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
12. Delgado, James P. (July 9, 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Duwamish / Fireboat Duwamish" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved June 22, 2009. and
    "Accompanying 10 photos, exterior and interior, from 1988 and 1929". Retrieved August 29, 2012.

External links

• Biography of Eugene L. McAllaster, designer of Duwamish.
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. WA-174, "Fireboat DUWAMISH, South Lake Union Pier, Seattle, King County, WA", 27 photos, 2 color transparencies, 5 data pages, 4 photo caption pages

v t e Puget Sound steam tugs
Tugs	Alice (1897) C.C. Cherry Cyrus Walker Duwamish Echo Elk Goliah (1849) Goliah (1907) Hector Rabboni Portland (1875) Richard Holyoke Ruth Wallowa
Firms	Foss Pacific Tow Boat
Persons	Thea Foss

• Fireboats in Seattle, Washington
• Firefighting museums in the United States
• Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state)
• Museum ships in Washington (state)
• Museums in Seattle
• National Register of Historic Places in Seattle
• National Historic Landmarks in Washington (state)
• Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state)
• Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)
• Steam tugs of Washington (state)
• South Lake Union, Seattle