Below is a list of the Company assignments and locations of the second "Cataract" during her service with the Baltimore City Fire Department.

February 17, 1914 - Placed in service with Engine Co. 16 at Marine Division Headquarters,
...............................--Pier 7, foot of President St.

October 4, 1960 - Removed from service and de-commissioned. Sold at auction.

The charcteristics of the 2nd Fireboat Cataract are as follows:

Builder - R.M. Spedden & Co. Shipyard, Baltimore, MD

Commissioned - by the Fire Department as Engine 16, February 17, 1914

Cost - $57,000 ( with as much machinery as possible installed from old boat )

Official Number - 211941

Construction - riveted steel, wood deck

Length overall - 100 feet

Extreme beam - 25 feet

Depth of hull - 12 feet 3 inches

Full load draft - 11 feet

Tonnage - 125 net, 185 gross

Fuel capacity - .? .tons of coal ( as built )

--------------------..1925 - converted to oil fired,. two tanks with total capacity of 10,646 gallons
-------------------...of fuel oil installed

Maximum speed - 12 m.p.h.

Boilers - four (4), 2 Cowles watertube marine boilers, 8 foot 3 inches long by 84 inches in
-----------.diameter ( from old 1891 boat ) and 2 Cowles watertube marine boilers, 8 foot 7 inches
-----------.long by 84 inches in diameter.

-----------.1925 - four boilers removed and replaced with 2 new oil fired Babcock & Wilcox

-----------.boilers, 8 foot 9˝” inches long by 144 inches in diameter. Stand-by steam

-----------.pressure 145 - 165 psi. working steam pressure 185 psi.

Propulsion - single screw,. (1). one,. 2-cylinder,.vertical,. inverted,. non-condensing steam
-----------------.engine, with cylinders of 18 inch diameter by 18 inch stroke, rated at .750 H.P.
-----------------.1925 - engine converted to surface-condensing type

Fire pumps - four .(4),. 2 .Thomas Manning,. duplex,. double acting .piston pumps with 16
-----------------.inch steam cylinders and 9 inch pump cylinders by 10 inch stroke, rated at 2,200
-----------------.g.p.m. each ( from old 1891 boat ) and .2,. Ahrens, duplex, double acting piston
-----------------.pumps with 10 inch steam cylinders and 6 inch water cylinders by 8 inch stroke,
-----------------.rated at 1,150 g.p.m. each. .Total capacity of boat - 6,700 g.p.m.

-----------------.The two old Thomas Manning 2,200 g.p.m. duplex pumps were removed in 1932,

-----------------.and replaced with 2 Dean Hill centrifugal pumps rated 3,500 g.p.m. each at 150

-----------------.psi., each driven by a Weit steam turbine. The 2 Ahrens duplex pumps were

-----------------.retained. Total capacity of the boat now 9,300 g.p.m.

-----------------.During the early 1940's, the two Ahrens duplex 1,150 g.p.m. pumps were

-----------------.removed.

-----------------.Total capacity of the boat now 7,000 g.p.m. This was the final pump

-----------------.configuration.

Discharge gates - twentyfour (24), 3 inch with 2 ˝” inch reducers, left hand valves, twelve (12) under forward
-----------------------.monitor, and twelve (12) under deck house monitor

Monitor pipes - four (4), Andrew J. Morse & Son of Boston, one on forward deck, one on pilot
---------------.-----.house, one on deck house, and one on 25 foot steel tower, aft

Hose - 1,000 feet of 2 ˝” inch, ..1,000 feet of 3 inch,.. 200 feet of 1˝ inch ( added 1946 )

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..The 2nd Fireboat for Baltimore to be named Cataract was built at the R.M. Spedden & Co. Shipyard, Baltimore, MD. The new Cataract was launched on October 1, 1913, being christened by Alice Preston, daughter of Mayor James H. Preston.
..After outfitting and testing were completed, the new boat was placed in service with Engine Co.16 on February 17, 1914. The original 1891 Fireboat Cataract had been decommissioned in 1913 and as much machinery and equipment as possible was removed from the vessel for installation in the new boat.

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Cataract on the ways at the Spedden Shipyard on Boston Street in 1913. The
new Cataract was of steel construction, except for the main deck, which was
planked with wood.------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.. The Fireboat Cataract has a hull of all steel construction, with two watertight bulkheads and a single main deck of wood from end to end. There is a lower deck area forward of the machinery space, fitted with racks and used as a hose room. A large hatch in the foredeck is fitted with rollers for passing the hose on deck. A monitor pipe is located on a 25 foot steel tower aft.
..There is a steel deck house over the boiler room and coal bunker, the forward end of which is a nozzle and equipment room. The after end of the deck house is extended out over the central hose discharge manifold to form a platform for the deck house monitor pipe.
.. A steel pilot house is located above the equipment room where the boat is maneuvered through a Williamson steam steering gear.
..The machinery space contains all necessary auxiliary pumps and devices for controlling and operating. Steam is supplied by four marine water tube boilers, two from the old boat, and two additional new ones, coal fired. ..Propulsion is through a single screw, turned by a 2-cylinder, reciprocating engine. There are four fire pumps of the piston type, two from the old boat, and two additional new ones.
..A steam driven electric plant to supply lighting for the boat, including a pilot house search light and cargo deck lights is provided.

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Underwriters Report, 1925

..Engine Tests : Tests made of the Fireboat "Cataract" showed that the pumps are in only fair condition. Three attempts were made to operate all four pumps to capacity but the boilers were unable to supply sufficient steam. The results obtained indicated that the boat is capable of delivering about 4,000 g.p.m. over a resonable period, at a satisfactory working pressure.

..

..In May of 1925 the Cataract was placed out of service to the Sparrows Point Shipyard for new boilers, and conversion to oil burning. During this out of service period the boat was equipped with a firefighting foamite system of the same pattern that was successfully installed and tested on the Fireboat S.C. - 428 earlier that year. Capacity consisted of two 450 gallon liquid foamite tanks.

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Cataract conducting. a. water display at the Inner .Harbor during .the .1930’s.
Then, as today, public relations along the waterfront is a part of the Fireboat’s
duty.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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