The Abram Hewitt

You don't realize when you're looking through the wreckage of these boats what a great history they had. It kinda makes me a bit sad to know that these ships used to be so loved and are now so destroyed.

See also: http://www.fire-police-ems.com/videos/vc6069.shtml

Pretty incredible - the before and after shots are so impressive!

sad end to great proud ship

I love it!
that is the only way to sum it up!

Such a pity these ships were left to rot.

My Dad used to pilot the fire-boat here in Philly, downtown under the Ben Franklin Bridge.(Delaware River). I remember taking rides on it. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my youth.

I love the before and after shots!!

apx 55 years when decomision about 102 yrs old now i bow to the ship that was once seemed a great ship in its time

I remember seeing a documentary about how one of these fireboats was restored, pumps, engines and all - that one was on the Thames in London though.

This boat is so beautiful - this picture envokes so much emotion- its an odd feeling of immense sadness and yet peace at the same time, mixed with nostalgia. You really captured these well, Motts.

Magnificent. The plumb bow (one that drops straight down into the water from the deck) dates this to around the turn of the last century, along with the Dispatch in an another photo. Great period picture to go with it.

i love the fact that you can see that wheel thing in both shots.

Purely stunning.. The history... the images.. Amazing!

All I can say is oh my god.

That is just astounding. Really puts life into perspective. Excellent work.

I'll bet this was one of the Fireboats at the S.I. Ferry Terminal fire in 1946. What a way to end your days.

I can't understand why these boats werent cut up and sold for scrap? At least its more dignified than just dumping the vessel. Scrap steel must not have been worth much in 1958?

Mott, these photos are incredible. Thank you so much for saving these for history.

I think the wheel thing is a reel for firehose. It's an incredible site!

Abrams S. Hewitt had a sister ship, The George B. McClellan that fared no better and was removed from service 17 sept.1953 and disposed of 1954. Wonder if one of those "ships in a row" might be the Geo.B?

the phto is magnificent both of them thank the photographer. i guess that is why they call it the boat graveyard all things buried is such a shame where there was once life and there is no more it is so sad. they cannot touch these ships any more because it will change the ecology of the water that it sits in. there are fish and sea things down their that have made homes in and around the ships and the law says it will mess up the ecology of the water. some one once told me that . he was an older man that once worked diving gor the sdcrap yard. what wonderful stories and history we have here on staten islad. gail

I don't know what it is about this particular photo, but, I cannot stop looking at it. It is as though it is still alive. A lot of the other pictures you cannot see the names, which makes it less personal. I spend and hour googleing the Abram Hewitt and did not find much. I think that is what makes this photo so saddening. It harbors a huge feeling of abandonment.

That was a beautiful boat in its day or any other.
The fact that we know its name makes it all the more poignant. Wonder if his masters would have given him up if they'd known this would happen.

I will be 80 years of age this coming July. My Father, John J. Sr. was a Pilot on the Abram Hewett . and other Boats during the years 1928 to 1936. I have original photos of the "Hewitt" with my Father on top deck. These photos and information are PRICELESS to ME. I will assemble a "Literary coulage" of my photos and this info. for my Children and Grandchilden to share.

How sad that The Abram Hewitt was left to rot. She was so beautiful.

It's nice to remember this old girl. She was mighty proud and pretty when she sailed. She had a long life, too. Still, it's sad that she's just sitting there, rotting away.......

Thats kinda sad. Its so old to which is totally cool

this ship should be saved to be truned into museums.

Ever see the little building with the tower just south of the Brooklyn bridge on the Brooklyn side? That was a Marine firehouse and was home to the Hewitt. Hewitt as built had two smoke stacks one in front of the other, in the 1930 she got new boilers and the two stacks were replaced by one large one. In the wheelhouse were two steering wheels, a small one that operated a steam steering engine and a big old one behind the small one that had a drum attached and the rudder was manually moved by the big wheel. Fireboats and boats in general have back up systems on almost everything. Even back in 1903. Just think when Hewitt was new the streets of New York were still filled with horses and carriages. She saw a lot of history around her!

I have to disagree its far more credible that these old vessels should spend their retirement in each others company rather baeen reduced to razor blades. While the ships and boats still lie here the memories are still quiet vivid...When they are gone..they die...and we tend to forget. I equate ships with living things..they are born the live ..they trans form they grow old..they retire and die. Some of these ain't ready to die yet.

I'm learning about boats in school, very cool this is a very interesting boat

I'm amazed that this tug was built over 100 years ago! I had no idea they were that old. And to think she offered over 1/2 century of service before being laid to rest with her buddies. That's a good, long useful life for a working vessel.

Considering her service years, this might have been one of the fireboats that responded to the fire aboard the Normandie. The fireboats, under control of a different branch of the firefighting service, refused to quit pouring water into the Normandie, until it ultimately capsized in its berth. If this was one of those fireboats, I'd say justice was served by its ultimate fate.

abosolutly discusting they look like theyve been bomed i wouldnt have it if i was paid

FB Jim; reciprocating steam pumps are a topic of interest to me; I own five small ones. Are any of her pumps still aboard?

The steam ferry Astoria still has one aboard:

http://www.survivingwo...ompartment_4_16_03_2

See also:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/steam_lizards

it would be amazing if you could show before and after shots of all these ships, maybe even a short documentary. i would absolutely buy it in a heartbeat.

To James Hefner, Yes the Hewitt has its 3 reciprocation pumps still in it. There were two large ones and one about the same size as a steam fire engine, probably about 1000 gpm. I thought I was going to be able to recover builders plates off of them years back and went out with a ladder and rubber waders and was going to stay on the boat till low tide and put my ladder down and climb down and remove the builders plates, that simple. Only thing simple was me...the boat is full of mud. the ladder went down about three feet and stopped, so much for that excursion. I was able to get the gauges off of it though. I would think the Astoria would have lost motion fire pumps on it, I think they were kind of standard for ferrrys and the like. Keep in touch, Jim

I'm Back! The Hewitt has reciprocating pumps but the ones with a big flywheel and crankshaft like a steam fire engine had. The ones you s\eak of dont have flwheels and rely on lost motion to operate the valves. they are very good pumps but lake the visual experience of the ones with the flywheel. Ever go to Rough and tumble in Kinzers Pa? that is the place to go to see steam and old gasoline engines running.

To Big Guy, The story I heard about the Normandie is the Chief Engineer of the Normandie wanted to go aboard and open the sea cocks and let the Normandy settle to the bottom on a fairly even keel, the Navy who was in charge of the vessel said no. and the fireboats, who were engine companies, same as the land companies continued to pour water on it till the point when it capsized. The Hewitt was based at the base of the Brooklyn bridge so I am sure was at the Normandie fire at some time. Hewitt also responded to the GENERAL SLOCUM fire so you get an idea of how long this boat was in service to the city of New York.

This ship surved a very purposeful life and so i guess it needs to let other ships in on the glory of that.

nice comments baby jim.
Where's the Duane ?

JAMES DUANE was at other end of yard. Is this Harold Knox of M-6 fame?

Sad end to a beautiful beast.

Jim, do you know when and what happened to the bow of the USS Holder that used to be in the yard?

by that I mean, was she finally scrapped or moved or ?

Hi Dunny, I never saw the USS Holder by name but there was an ex Navy boat they cut up in the early 70s that was perhaps DD or DE size, it was painted blue or had a blue tint to it. If that was it then it was definately cut up. I have pictures of it being cut up but you cant tell what it was, I figured it as another sub chaser.

Yeah, that was probably the Holder. She was an Edsall class DE (DE-401) that caught a torpedo from a german plane in 1944. They transplanted her stern to the USS Menges (DE-320) and sold the bow to Witte in 1947. I was just curious because I saw her in some old undated aerial photos of the yard. Thanks, Jim!

What a shame,

My Grandfather was an FDNY Lieutenant on the JAMES DUANE in the 1930's. Is there a photo of the remains of her available?

I wish the fdny would do something about the losing of their nautical history, they have a museum and restoration volunteers for the land based engines found and recovered.

Michael, get in touch with me at ahrensjim@hotmail.com I have photos of the DUANE.

As of 9/2008 HEWITT and the two NYNH&H RR transfer tugs have been removed, I guess the Hewitt has gone to the big firehouse in the sky. She survived over 100 years, she responded to the SLOCUM fire and probably most of the major marine fires during her years in service. RIP

Gday great pics and a great fire bot. does anyone know where the hewitt went?

Link to the Hewitt in action
http://yorkship.home.c...vil/013_Fireboat.jpg

To gaz
I would suspect that with the recent high prices being paid for scrap that she is gone.
I had her pined in Google Earth and now she isn't there.
Also, I saw recent photos of the graveyard in another post and there was a alot of rusted metal on land the looked like it was being reduced for shipment. In addition, it appeared that there was less of a mess about the place,
and what remained appeared to be the wooden ships.
In some ways, it's a relief not to see her in such a decayed condition anymore.
It's sad that in the U.S. we remove the dignity from anything we perceive as old as opposed to honoring it as they do in Europe.
Or at least give it the dignity of getting it over with instead of letting it rot away bit by bit.
Weather the condition of this ship, as pictured above, or the current financial mess we're in, both have a root cause of lack of respect.
I don't know what happened to this country or how we got where we are, but I do know that until we figure it out and get back to where we once were, as in the Hewitt's active days, this country will never have the glory it once had.

We have met the enemy
And it is US.
POGO

Take Care

Wow, for once I'm actually saddened to see a shipwreck (instead of covering my eyes, curling up into the foetal position and gibbering like a wuss).

That's incredibly moving. Thanks for the new perspective.