John Kendall (fireboat)

The John Kendall was a steam-powered fireboat launched in 1929 by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company and operated by the Detroit Fire Department from 1930 to 1976.[1][2][3] During her service as a fireboat she continued to be propelled by steam engines, requiring a crew of ten, five of whom were required to stoke her boiler.[4] She was converted to a tugboat, and her steam engines were finally replaced by diesel engines. She served an additional 20 years as a tug, out of Alpena, Michigan. She was scrapped in 1994.[5]

The John Kendall steam-powered fire boat moored at Riverside Park Boat Launch in Detroit in July of 1969. In the background is the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit, Michigan USA with Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

According to Bob Dombrowski, the author of 38 Years: a Detroit Firefighter's Story, she was 135 feet (41 m) long.[4] But in 1976, the year she was decommissioned, The Scanner reported she was 128 feet (39 m) long.[3]

Namesake

The vessel's namesake had followed his father's footsteps, and joined the Fire Department as a volunteer, when he was just fourteen years old.[6] He served the Department for 58 years. John Kendall was appointed Detroit's third Fire Department Chief in 1898.[2] Detroit's first two Fire Chiefs, James Battle and James R. Elliott had previously been honored by having the Department's second and third fireboats named after them. Detroit's fifth and most recent fireboat, the Curtis Randolph, was named after a firefighter who died in the line of duty.

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References
  1. Bob Toth. "Fireboat converted to Tug". Retrieved 2015-02-28. The Detroit fireboat John Kendall was decommissioned in 1976 and the following year was purchased by Robert Massey of Pan Oceanic Engineering Corp, Alpena Michigan.
  2. "Vintage Detroit fireboats". Archived from the original on 2013-03-15.
  3. "Marine News". The Scanner. 1976. There was no suggestion that the layup was to be unalterably permanent (original plans called for her to be idled for only fifteen days) but bearing in mind the fact that JOHN KENDALL dates back to 1929 and that Detroit expects soon to purchase a new, more mobile, and less expensive to operate fireboat, we would not be surprised if the KENDALL never turns a wheel again.
  4. Bob Dombrowski (2014). "38 Years a Detroit Firefighter's Story". Page Publishing. ISBN 9781628384178. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  5. "John Kendal (Tug), 1929". Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  6. "Detroit Fire Department's First Paid Employee". Detroit Fire Department Legacy. 2014-05-12. Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2015-02-28. Without doubt David Kendall’s service with the fire department had a impact on his son, John. John Kendall joined the department at 14 years old as a volunteer. He stayed with the department 53 years and eventually became chief in 1898. Detroit’s third fire boat was named the “John Kendall” in his honor.
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