M/V ''Commencement'' is a

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, 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 ...

operated by the Tacoma Fire Department (TFD) in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. ''Commencement'' is powered by two 535-horsepower engines and a 300-horsepower marine diesel engine that provides power to six 24-inch aluminum alloy fans which can be used to create an air cushion under the vessel, similar to a hovercraft. The ship has a maximum speed of 30 knots. In 2005 ''Commencement'' was renovated and refitted with a Port security grant provided by the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...

References

{{reflist 2007 ships Fireboats of Puget Sound