A Night on the John J. Harvey

By Christian Rowe

On July 16, 2014, LANDMARK WEST! hosted a summer evening trip down the Hudson River on the retired historic Fireboat John J.Harvey. Built in 1931, the John J. Harvey was the first large modern fireboat built in America. Every fireboat before her was powered by steam. The Harvey has five 600 HP diesel engines. The boat has the power of 20 fire trucks and is capable of pumping 18,000 gallons of water per minute! Although the boat was retired in 1994, on September 11^th, 2001, it was put to service evacuating lower Manhattan and pumping water to put out fires. Today, the boat cruises the Hudson doing tours for school kids and showing off her beauty.

Tharrrrrr She Blows!!!

During the ride on this awesome boat I was given a tour of the engine room, which was very cluttered because of all the equipment. The five diesel engines were completely visible, and the room felt like a furnace. The water for the fire hoses was pumped from the river into huge vacuum cylinders. When I went up to the captain's cabin I saw the radar and the GPS. The radar shows you moving boats and the surrounding land. The GPS tells you the water’s depth. This was an amazing experience because before my internship at LANDMARK WEST! I never heard of this boat and thanks to them I took a ride on it. To all my fellow New Yorkers go visit the Double J. Harvey! You will love it!

 

The captain's cabin on the John J. Harvey