PH Coll 794.37

1909: A powerful steel fireboat, the DUWAMISH, 309 tons, 113 feet in length, and fitted with 1,100 horsepower steam engines was built at Richmond Beach for the Seattle Fire Department, having been designed by McAllister & Bennett and built by the Richmond Beach Shipbuilding Co. at a cost of more than $125,000. As a result of neglect and failure to provide proper maintenance, the old wooden fireboat SNOQUALMIE has been found by Inspectors Whitney and Turney of the Steamboat Inspection Service to be in unseaworthy condition, and she was put out of service for many months following the arrival of the DUWAMISH, during which time she was completely overhauled. The DUWAMISH was placed in charge of Capt. Arthur G. Bennefiel, with Lt. Harmon Leighton as pilot. Serving for over 75 years (and undergoing numerous modifications, including replacement of her steam engines), the DUWAMISH was replaced by the CHIEF SEATTLE in the Seattle Fire Department in 1985. The vessel is currently (2009) preserved as a National Historic Landmark by the Puget Sound Fireboat Foundation in Seattle. (Sources: 1) Newell, Gordon, ed. "The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest." Seattle: The Superior Company, 1966. 2) http://www.fireboatduwamish.org/)

• Subjects (LCSH): Duwamish (Fireboat); Fireboats--Washington (State)--Seattle; Piers & wharves--Washington (State)--Seattle