''Three Forty Three'' is a ''Ranger 4200'' class

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...

that serves the

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

as Marine Company 1. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built to replace the 1954 '' John D. McKean,'' it was commissioned at 0900 on September 11, 2010, exactly nine years after the 2001 terrorist attacks. It is one of four New York fireboats currently in active service.

Namesake

The boat's name comes from the number of

FDNY The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

members killed in the line of duty on September 11th, 2001. For days following the terrorist attack the only water available to the area was provided by the FDNY's Marine Units.

Manufacturing

The ''Three Forty Three'' was built by Eastern Shipbuilding of

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

, and is the largest single purpose fireboat built to date with the highest pumping capacity of any fireboat ever built. A sister vessel named '' Fire Fighter II'' was delivered and placed in service with Marine 9 in November 2010 to replace the 70-year-old ''

Fire Fighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

'', which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, and represented the city's first major investment in new fireboats in 50 years.FDNY Annual Report 2012
p. 7

Features

The 140-foot, 500-ton, $27 million fast response boat is the country's largest fireboat, with a maximum speed of 18 knots. The ''Three Forty Three'' incorporates the latest technology available for marine vessels, including the capability of pumping 50,000 gallons of water per minute, nearly 30,000 gallons more than its predecessor. It has an operating crew of seven.

References

Service vessels of the United States Fireboats of New York City 2009 ships Ships built in Panama City, Florida {{boat-stub