Captain Crotty
The Captain Crotty was Houston's second fireboat.[1] When commissioned in 1950 she replaced the Port Houston.[2][3] She was joined by Houston's third fireboat, the Captain J.L. Farnsworth in 1973. In 1983 she, in turn was retired, replaced by the J.S. Bracewell and Howard T. Tellepsen.[4]
The Captain Crotty was 79 feet (24 m) long, and built in the R.T.C Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey.[2] According to Motorboating magazine she was "highly maneuverable", while built to a "relatively inexpensive" design.
After she was retired she was sold to Ocean Diving Adventures Incorporated, for $50,000.[5]
She was named after Charles Crotty, who had been assistant director of the Port.[6] The name was picked through a contest.[7]
References
- ^ "State-of-the-Art Emergency Response Vessel Headed Home". Port of Houston Authority. Houston. 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
In 1924, a fire in the hold of a steamship carrying cotton prompted the Houston Fire Commissioner to declare that the Port of Houston needed adequate firefighting apparatus to attack fires from water as well as land. A bond election to pay for the city's first fireboat passed with a wide margin. This election occurred just one day after a fire along the banks of the Houston Ship Channel spread to oil on the water and burned for more than two hours, with flames as high as 40 feet.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Fireboat for Houston". Motorboating magazine. Vol. 86, no. 1. July 1950. p. 122. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
Captain Crotty, a new 79-foot Diesel-powered fireboat for the Port of Houston, Texas, was launched recently at the R.T.C. Shipbuilding Co., Camden, New Jersey.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Mark Lardas (2013). "The Port of Houston". Arcadia Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4396-4428-7. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Fire Museum of Houston; Tristan Smith (2015). "Houston Fire Department". Arcadia Publishing. p. 46, 62, 69. ISBN 978-1-4396-5152-0. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Captain Crotty sold for $50,000". Port of Houston magazine. Vol. 28. 1984. p. 29. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Illustrated City Book of Houston". University of Michigan. 1925. p. 181. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Rivers and Harbors". Vol. 35. University of Michigan. 1950. p. 36. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
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