Fireboats of San Francisco

As a major port a number of fireboats of San Francisco have been operated by the city of San Francisco since 1878.^[1]

fireboats of San Francisco

image	name	entered service	retired	notes
	Governor Irwin	1878	1909	Participated in 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.[2][3] The Governor Irwin was owned by the State of California, she could only pump a modest 1000 gallons per minute.[2]
	Governor Markham	1895		Participated in 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Sister ship to the Governor Irwin.[4]
	David Scannell	1909	1954	Steam powered.[1]
	Dennis T. Sullivan	1909	1954	Steam powered.[1] Active during World War II, when she fought a fire on Angel Island.[1][5][6]
	Frank G. White	1947	1978	A tugboat with fire-fighting capability, which would be called into service for particularly serious fires, or when the full-time fireboats were undergoing maintenance.[7]
	Phoenix	1955		Was scheduled to be retired, as a cost-saving measure, but was still in service when the San Francisco area was hit by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[8] Remains in service.[9][10][11]
	Guardian	1990		The Guardian was donated to the city by private citizens after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The pumps of the Phoenix played a key role in fire prevention in areas where the earthquake had broken water mains. The vessel had previously served in Vancouver, British Columbia.
	St. Francis	2016[12]		In October 2014, San Francisco started building a modern fireboat.[1][13][14][15] Is capable of pumping 18,000 gallons per minute through five water cannons.[14] She will be equipped with a stern launch ramp, similar to those US Coast Guard cutters use to deploy pursuit boats to capture smugglers.[14] One of the department's older fireboats may be retired when the new vessel enters service.[15]

United States Navy fireboats USS Leslie, USS Fortune and USS Active were employed to fight the fires triggered in the aftermath of the disastrous 1906 San Francisco earthquake.^[16][17] These vessels were not operated by the San Francisco Fire Department, which did not have any active fireboats at the time of the disaster.