Old Boat 2

The Longest Serving Piece of Apparatus in the History of the City

Old Fire Boat 2, the Ralph J. Scott has a remarkable and storied history. She was involved with most of the significant fires in the LA Harbor area, and served longer than any other single piece of apparatus.

Originally named Los Angeles City No. 2, she was built in 1925 at the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. (Todd Shipyard) in San Pedro. Launched October 20, 1925, the $214,000 fire boat went to sea with a crew of 14 officers and firefighters. She was later renamed the Ralph J. Scott, in honor of the city’s most innovative Chief engineer during the early 1900s.

Originally Old Fire Boat 2 was powered by seven 350-horsepower, 6-cylinder in-line Winton gasoline engines. There were six Byron Jackson four-stage centrifugal pumps mounted in pairs forward of the propulsion system. Each was rated at 1700 G.P.M. at 200 psi., for a total output of 10,200 G.P.M. Beginning in 1975 the gasoline engines were replaced with diesels and by 1978 two 700 H.P. V-12 Cummins, three 380 H.P. 6 cylinder in-line Cummins and two 525 H.P. V-12 - 2 cycle Detroit engines powered the boat.

The Ralph J. Scott carried breathing apparatus, forcible entry tools, heavy stream appliances, a bank of eighteen 50 lb. CO-2 cylinders, flood light, smoke ejector equipment, syphon ejectors, drag and grappling hooks, two 3 1/2" Mystery nozzles, and tips up to 6" for the largest deck turret. She had four reels supporting 4,000 feet of various sizes of hose. The Scott was equipped with 24 hose outlets (12 port and 12 starboard) and 5 large deck guns. The largest, dubbed Big Bertha, mounted on the wheelhouse could deliver 10,200-gallons-per-minute via a six-inch nozzle.. The tower turret, believed to be the first, or at least one of the first fireboat towers in the nation, raised to a height of 42' above the waterline.

Today, Old Fireboat 2, The Ralph J. Scott sits behind active Fire Station 112 in San Pedro. Plans are under way to create a permanent memorial plaza for her along the revitalized boardwalk near the Ports ‘O Call Village.