Zophar Mills in 1882.
History
United States
NameZophar Mills
OperatorFire Department of New York City
Launched1882
In service1883
Out of service1958
FateAbandoned at Staten Island boat graveyard
General characteristics
TypeFireboat
Length120 ft (37 m)
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft12 ft (3.7 m)

Zophar Mills was a fireboat operated by the Fire Department of New York City from 1883 to 1958.[1][2] She was the department's first iron-hulled vessel and had a pumping capacity of 6,000 US gal (23,000 L; 5,000 imp gal) per minute.[1][2]

Around 1882, Zohpar Mills reportedly collided with a pier at Little 12th Street (as of 2022, the present-day location of Little Island at Pier 55).[3]

According to some accounts, she was the first fireboat called to the burning of General Slocum, where over a thousand people died.[4] Other accounts say Abram S. Hewitt was the first fireboat to be dispatched.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "SHIP GRAVEYARD, ROSSVILLE, Staten Island". Forgotten NY. Retrieved 2015-06-28. One of the rusting hulks, er, retired vessels is the fireboat Abram S. Hewitt, which was in active service from 1903-1958. The fireboat, named for NYC mayor Abram Stevens Hewitt (1822-1903) was built by New York Shipbuilding in Camden, NJ and launched the year the mayor died; she served in the NYC fireboat fleet until 1958. It was the last coal-burning fireboat in operation.
  2. 1 2 3 Clarence E. Meek (July 1954). "Fireboats Through The Years". Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  3. "A Fireboat Destroys a Pier" (PDF). The New York Times. December 28, 1882. p. 8. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  4. "North Brother Island". Forgotten NY. Retrieved 2015-06-28.


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