Fire-float Pyronaut

Pyronaut (originally Bristol Phoenix II) was a fire-float built by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dock Bristol, 1934, Yard No. 208. Registered number 333833.

Length: 55 ft. (16.77 m.) Width overall: 13 ft. (3.97 m.) Draught: 3 ft. (0.91 m.) Gross tonnage: 20.32 tons Registered tonnage: 8.46 tons

Originally powered by two Petter Atomic diesel engines rates at 55b.h.p. each. Two Merryweather three-cylinder reciprocating pumps capable of delivering 500 gallons (2,273 litres) of water per minute. This equipment was replaced in 1968 by two Ruston Hornsby 6YDM six-cylinder diesel engines rated at 90 b.h.p. each, driving screw propellers from the front power-take-off, and Coventry Climax centrifugal pumps capable of delivering 1,000 gallons (4,546 litres) of water per minute from the main drive.

Fire-floats in Bristol

When ships loaded with valuable cargoes are berthed together in crowded docks surrounded by warehouses, a fire can be disastrous. Although land-based fire-engines are able to reach much of the fire ground, waterborne fire-engines, or fire-floats, can fight the fire from the water.

The first recorded fire-float was built in 1765 for the Sun Fire Insurance Company in London. This was a manual pump in a small boat, rowed by its crew to the scene of the fire. A similar craft was built in Bristol by James Hillhouse for the Imperial Fire Insurance Office in the 1780s. All fire fighting in Bristol was carried out either by private insurance companies or the Docks Company until the formation of the Bristol Fire Brigade as a branch of the police in 1876. By the middle of the nineteenth centaury, self-propelled steam-fire-floats were beginning to be introduced. The first to appear in Bristol was the Fire Queen, built by Shand Mason & Co., London, in 1884 for service in the City Docks. The 53 ft. (16.61 m.) long craft was equipped with a three-cylinder steam-pump supplying two large hose reels; one of these was replaced with a monitor, or water-cannon, in 1900. Fire Queen served until 1922.

In 1905, the Fire Brigade took delivery of the Salamander, built by G.K. Stothert & Co., Hotwells, Bristol, and equipped with Merryweather pumps and two monitors. Salamander served at Avonmouth Docks for many years. She demonstrated the major drawback of steam-powered fire-floats one day in 1917: a fire was discovered at 7.30 a.m. in a transit shed at Avonmouth Dock, and Salamander was called out. By 8.30am shore appliances had almost extinguished the fire. Meanwhile, Salamander had finally raised sufficient steam to lend a hand, and arrived at 8.36a.m.

As well as the two specialised craft, a number of craft owned by the Port Authority were fitted with fire-fighting equipment. These included the tug/tender Brunel, and the multi-purpose workboat Bulldog. The Port also owned and operated the fire-float Denny, built in 1916 for service at Portishead Dock. Denny Served until 1953.

In 1921, Fire Queen was replaced as the City Docks’ fire-float by Phoenix, built in London and petrol-engined. Ten years later, the Fire Brigade reconsidered their requirements in the Port of Bristol. The cost of installing diesel s engines in Salamander was investigated, but proved too expensive to be worthwhile, and instead the Brigade ordered two new fire-floats, one for Avonmouth and one for the City Docks. Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dockyard, Bristol, successfully tendered for both. In 1934 the Phoenix II (later renamed Pyronaut) was launched, followed in 1936 by Endres Gane. Phoenix II was taken into commission in June 1934, working from the Prince Street Bridge river police station. Her crew consisted of five firemen, including an engineer stationed below in the noisy engine room. He responded to orders transmitted from the wheel by the ships’ telegraph, and controlled the speed and direction of each engine and watched over the pumps at the fire.

Surviving records show that in her first two years at work Phoenix II attended major fires at Robbins Ltd., Imperial Saw Mills, Cumberland Road (now part of the Baltic Wharf housing estate) Charles Hill & Sons Ltd.’s shipyard and William Butler’s tar distillation works at Crews Hole. These sites were at opposite ends of the City Docks, almost five miles apart, and to allow the fire-float to reach the fire quickly, it was important that she should be able to pass under Prince Street swingbridge (the lowest in the Docks) without the bridge opening. This limitation meant that the fire-float’s air-draught (the hull and superstructure above the waterline) was very low, and the helmsman had to lie flat on the deck when navigating some of the bridges.

In 1938 it was discovered that a second vessel named Phoenix appeared on Lloyd’s Register, and, because this is not permitted, the fire-float was renamed Pyronaut. Shortly after this, in November 1938, one of the most serious peacetime fires in the City Docks broke out, at Samuel Thompson & Sons’ malthouse (later known as the MacArthur warehouse) in Gas Ferry Road. The fire raged through the building, causing £46,000 of damage before it was extinguished by Pyronaut and several shore appliances.

World War II

Early in 1939 several small fires at various places in the City Docks preceded a major fire at the Cumberland Road premises of the Anglo-American Asphalt Co. In the following year, Pyronaut embarked upon her busiest period, as the air raids of the Bristol blitz damaged and destroyed countless warehouses, factories, shops and homes around the Floating Harbour. Operating alongside two motor-launches fitted with fire-fighting equipment, Pyronaut was constantly manned and working through the worst raids of the war.

Peacetime Service

The return to peacetime duties meant less work for the fire-floats, but major fires still occurred. In February 1948 there was a serious blaze at the Hippodrome Theatre, and Pyronaut pumped water from the head of St. Augustine’s Reach. It was the height of the pantomime season, and amongst the salvage was some of the clothing for the cast, including Sid Phasey ‘s dress suit. A reporter recorded the scene: ‘I find clusters of men soaked to the skin, their eyes red-rimmed with the smoke and fumes, plying their hoses oblivious to the danger that threatened them every minute from above’.

In 1949 a serious fire in wastepaper stacks at St. Anne’s Board Mill required the attendance of Pyronaut and many shore appliances, as well as the company’s own motor-launch fire-float. When Rowe Bros’ lead works warehouses on Canons’ Marsh caught fire in 1950, Pyronaut pumped water from the City Docks. In September 1951, the most serious peacetime oil fire to date broke out at Avonmouth Docks, and Pyronaut made the journey down the River Avon to attend; she pumped water continually for two days. The following year saw her fighting a dangerous fire aboard the m.v. Stalheim in the City Docks. In quieter moments, the crew regularly took Pyronaut for drill periods, to familiarise themselves with the equipment and performance of the craft. A favourite destination during drill was Beese’s Tea Garden at Conham.

Closure of Bristol City Docks

By 1967 the equipment of Pyronaut and Endres Gane, her Avonmouth Docks was becoming worn out and obsolete. A new fire-float for Avonmouth Docks, the Aquanaut, was ordered from Thames Launch Works Ltd., London, and delivered in 1969. Powered by twin Thorneycroft diesel engines driving Schottel propultion units, the new craft was very manuverable, and her Rolls-Royce turbocharged pumps allowed her to deliver 2,000 gallons of water per minute through hoses and four monitors; additionally, she carried large tanks for foam which was discharged through a fifth, dual-purpose, monitor. Aquanaut replaced the Endres Gane, which was sold into private hands; she can still be seen acting as a storage hulk in the City Docks. Instead of buying a new fire-float for the City Docks, it was decided to re-equip Pyronaut, and this was carried out in 1968/9, at Charles Hill’s. Her Petter Atomic diesel engines and Merryweather reciprocating pumps were replaced with Ruston Hornsby diesels. These were installed with the normal drive facing forwards, so that the full power of the engines could be applied to the new Coventry Climax centrifugal pumps, and yet still provide sufficient power from the auxiliary end of the engines to drive the screws. At the same time, remote controls of the engine from the steering position was introduced, so that it was no longer necessary to station an engineer in the engine room at all times.

1972 Review

Despite these improvements, Pyronaut’s working days were numbered. In 1972 a review of the fire cover in the City Docks noted that very few buildings remained which could not be reached on all sides by land-based fire-engines. When the closure of the City Docks to commercial traffic was announced in 1976, Pyronaut was put up for sale. Four years later Aquanaut was also sold, and fire cover in the Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks became the responsibility of land-based fire appliances and new tugs equipped with fire-fighting equipment.

Pyronaut was sold to the Port of Bristol Authority, who took her to Avonmouth and began work on converting her into a divers’ boat. This entailed removing all the fire-fighting pumps and moving her engines forward in the hull to create space for a changing room. The work was never completed, and she was sold again to a private owner in 1983, who reinstated all the pumps and monitors and began to fit the changing room as a saloon, with the intention of using Pyronaut as a working/living craft in the south of Ireland. Shortly before completing the work in 1989, he decided to sell the Vessel to Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery. Pyronaut can now be seen outside The Museum of Bristol Project Former Bristol Industrial Museum, berthed with the museum‘s tugs Mayflower and John King. The vessels are regularly operated by volunteers, giving passenger trips at weekends in the summer around the Floating Harbour.