Best Panama City Beach Condo

  
Launching Ceremony of the FDNY Fireboat Three Forty Three on September 11, 2009 in Panama City, Florida
New York Fire Boat Three Forty Three

Three Forty Three Ready to Launch

On September 11, 2009 the eighth anniversary of the 9/11/01 attack on New York City, The Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania the Three Forty Three was launched into the Panama City Harbor. My wife Pam and I had the honor of attending the ceremony. The Three Forty Three is a new fireboat built for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) by the Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City.

FDNY claims that the Three Forty Three is the largest fireboat in the world. Construction of the Three Forty Three started in 2008. The boat is a vast improvement over the current fleet of FDNY fireboats. With a speed of 20 mph. the Three Forty Three is twice as fast as the other boats in the fleet enabling a faster response time to emergencies. The Three Forty Three has a pumping capacity of 50,000 gallons of water per minute. FDNY also worked with the Department of Homeland Security to incorporate designs in Three Forty Three that will protect the crew from hazardous materials at the site of emergencies.

FDNY Chief James Dalton told the crowd, estimated at 1,000 that fireboats were used during 9/11 to pump water to the firefighters because some of the critical the water mains were broken during the attack. Had the Three Forty Three been available on 9/11 her pumping capacity would have greatly enhanced the water delivered to fight the fires.

The Mosley JROTC presented the Colors at the launching ceremony. The large crowd was welcomed by Bryan D’Lesmia of Eastern Ship Building. Other Speakers included Joe Stark, FDNY Chief James Dalton, FDNY Chief Bill Siegel, Rob Allen, the boat’s designer, Carter Johnson, a representative from Governor Christ’s office and Jimmy Patronis the Panama City state representative.

Fr. George Zieba, C.R. performed the blessing of the Three Forty Three.

Ms. Melissa Smith had the honor of christening the Three Forty Three. Ms. Smith nailed the bow of the Three Forty Three with more than enough force to break the bottle of Champaign. No way was the bottle going to bounce off of the ship unbroken. Way to go Melissa!

After the christening the Three Forty Three rolled slowly backwards into the harbor. It was a sight to behold!

The Three Forty Three will remain in Panama City for a few weeks as final testing of the boat and its systems is completed. Once pronounced seaworthy, the Three Forty Three will sail down the Gulf of Mexico, around the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic coast to New York City.

This is an article about the launching of the Three Forty Three a new fireboat built in Panama City Beach for New your City on September 11, 2009.

by Pam Eyler - September 2009

Back to Top

###