Ralph J. Scott

Los Angeles City Fireboat 2, commissioned in 1925 and later renamed the Ralph J. Scott, was developed under Chief Engineer Ralph J. Scott of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, who served from 1919 to 1940. The vessel was launched at 10:15 a.m. on October 20, 1925, at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation in San Pedro, where Mrs. Ralph J. Scott christened it L.A. City No. 2 by breaking a bottle of fire-fighting foam across its bow, and it was commissioned on December 2, 1925. The 99-foot vessel, with a 19-foot beam and 6+ foot draft, was one of the first triple-screw, gasoline-powered fireboats in the nation; it had a wrought steel hull, a top speed of 17 knots, a crew of 14, a pumping capacity of 10,200 GPM, and cost $213,000. On May 8, 1965, Fireboat 2 was renamed the Ralph J. Scott in honor of the chief engineer during whose administration it was developed. On October 29, 1969, it was recommissioned after extensive modernization that reduced its crew from fourteen to eight and added direct control of propulsion engines and transmissions, hydraulic steering, new hydraulic stainless steel monitors, underwater maneuvering jets, large-capacity underwharf monitors, six special bulwark monitors, and a hydraulic lift boom and winches. The fireboat marked its 50th anniversary on December 6, 1975, with an open house and water displays, was named a Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument in 1976, and had all seven main engines changed to diesel over a three-year period. On July 3, 1986, it moved to a temporary station at berth 85 in San Pedro after its former fire station was demolished for harbor expansion, and on April 24, 1989, it was named a National Historic Landmark.

Los Angeles, California · United States