From Concept to Contract

Not known to many, the “Super Pumper” concept dates back to 1910 when Mr. William Francis Gibbs an internationally renowned naval architect came up with an idea for the “land fireboat”, but his ideas where not received with serious consideration. In the 1930’s Gibbs had plans drawn up for his “land fireboat” using two Zeppelin engines, but this was still just a concept, while he was designing the fireboat FIREFIGHTER for New York City. He could not get the land fireboat out of his head; penning down designs and also showing practical reasons for his idea: which included the land fireboat acting as a portable pumping station delivering water from lakes ponds and other inland mass water sources. Giving greater water pressures than existing fire fighting equipment at the time, unfortunately for Gibbs such a vehicle was still no more than just a dream. Not being possible, due to engineering limitations that would restrict such a vehicle until the 1960’s. Diesel engines that could fulfill this type of pumping requirement and be light enough to mount on a truck did not exist, as well as hose that could cope with the pressures in Gibbs’ design.

Mr. William Francis Gibbs went on to be come America’s foremost ship designer going on to design 74% of the U.S. Navy’s fleet used during World War II plus the passenger liner S.S. UNITED STATES. Gibbs never gave up on his land fireboat, he became encouraged by newly developed lightweight diesel engines for the British navy as well as the U.S. Navy’s development of high pressure hoses that could withstand the requirement of the envisaged fire fighting apparatus. During 1962, Gibbs invited Mack Trucks to take part in the design of what is known today as the SUPER PUMPER and its companion Tender; with studies by Gibbs and Mack engineers into engineering feasibility, design right through to construction and materials. The DeLaval Turbine Inc was commissioned to design a multi-stage centrifugal pump with a Naper-Deltic T18-37C diesel to power the pumps; Gibbs and Cox Inc would provide the necessary services to act as design agents leaving Mack Trucks acting as the general contractor. Teams of managers, scientists and engineers from both corporations were assembled to work on this project.
 

William Gibbs

20th April 1963 F.D.N.Y. experienced its busiest day to date, the combination of several dry spells plus prolonged water shortages led to one of the biggest fires on Staten Island. Staten Island was mainly thick brush, oak and pine trees with a small clusters of homes. On that day a series of small brush fires quickly committed all Staten Island’s fire companies; there was almost no water available due to the drought and poor water mains, additional fire companies were dispatched from Brooklyn and Manhattan. Their response time was hampered by the need for the additional companies to be shipped across to Staten Island by ferry boats. As a result of the delay in providing adequate fire cover, the total loss on the Island exceeded $2 Million with over 1300 firefighter and over 80 Fire companies being committed, firefighter could do little to save property and land due to the lack of water. Firefighters in the rest of the city were kept busy in that twenty four hour period with over 2000 alarms being transmitted for fires.

Gibbs watched the events of that day; after he analyzed all the statistics he came to the conclusion that his land fireboat could have had great effect on the outcome of the Staten Island fire. It could have pumped water from the Tottenville water front providing an unlimited supply of water to the working companies. This was it; the time had come for his idea to become a necessity in a modern day fire service. He approached the F.D.N.Y. The department’s officials were enthusiastic about the idea of a large high pressure pumping appliance. But one problem! The department’s funding for the next financial year had been budgeted; this was a set back for Gibbs, but he was determined to sell this idea to the City. After attending several hearings and testifying to justify the expense, the approval was eventually given and at 10:00am December 3rd 1963 Fire Commissioner Edward Thompson signed the contract for Mack Trucks to build the Super Pumper and it’s Tender at a cost of $875,000.00 to the city. Commissioner Edward stated, “This will be the most powerful firefighting equipment the world has ever known.”

The Super Pumper

The tractor utilized for the Super Pumper was a commercial Mack, model designated F715FSTP. The engine was a four stroke cycle Mack END864 V8 diesel of 255 HP. An Allison CLT4460 six speed semi-automatic transmission was coupled to the engine and equipped for a power take off unit to drive the priming pump and starting air compressor for the pump engine. Additional power take off units powered the air brake compressor including the power steering pump. The semi-trailer was mounted to the fifth wheel of the tractor. Mounted at the rear of the tractor trailer is a DeLaval six stage pump having a built in piston type valve to allow for operation in either pressure or volume positions. To supply water to the pump there are four unchecked inlets to the rear. Two of these are 4 1/2 inch while the other two are 12 inch with 4 1/2 inch inlets set into their caps. There are also two 4 1/2 inch checked inlets on each side of the apparatus at the rear. There are a total of eight 4 1/2 inch discharge outlets with four located on each side of the apparatus. Directly coupled to the pump is the Napier-Deltic engine this is an 18 cylinder turbo-blown compression ignition, water cooled opposed piston type operating on a two stroke cycle. The exhaust silencer is intended to reduce the overall engine noise level within 6ft distance from the apparatus. On each side of this silencer are 200 gallon diesel fuel tanks which can feed the diesel independently or simultaneously. The pump engine is started by air pressure (450PSI) provided from air tanks located on the tractor. There is a single master shut off to prevent engine over speeding. A mechanical crane is located at the rear to assist in positioning and supporting the rigid 12 inch suction connections. By the end of 1964, the pumping unit of the Super Pumper was approximately 90% complete.

The Tender

The primary tender would be a flat hose bed trailer instead of the hose reels indented in the original design; unfortunately the intended design was not practical at the time of manufacturing due to limited technology. When a working model of the tender with reels was made, problems surfaced with the hose butts on the reels that proved the design to be impractical. A manifold system with gauged discharge outlets would also be included in the trailers design. Utilizing the same basic Mack cab over tractor as that of the Super Pumper, modifications were made to fit an operating platform that would support the high pressure monitor, designated model F715FSTT... When originally delivered, the Tender had a large McEntyre monitor similar to those on the fireboats. This was replaced with a large Stang "Intelligiant" monitor which had an 8 inch barrel operated by hand wheels including interchangeable tips of 3, 3 1/2, 4, 5 inch and a 2000 GPM fog tip. The monitor was supplied via the four 4 1/2 inch checked inlets with two located on each side of the tractor. There were also hydraulically operated outriggers on each side of the tractor located below the operating platform attached to the frame. Their purpose is to stabilize the rig and counteract the nozzle reaction of back pressure. These outriggers were also equipped with mechanical interlocking devices in the event of hydraulic failure. The maximum reach of a stream thrown by the tender's monitor was 600 feet. The bulk of the trailer consists of a divided hose bed with each compartment capable of carrying 1000 feet of 4 1/2 inch hose. The front end of the trailer was equipped with a large “walk in” type compartment. The rear axles were steerable from a reverse seated position located at the rear center of the trailer; this was to be removed in a later modification. This apparatus was designed and manufactured so that the tractor could easily uncouple from the trailer. This allowed for the tractor, carrying the large monitor, to maneuver easily and into tighter spots than wouldn’t be possible as a tractor trailer combination.
 

Length	41'6"
Width	8'
Height	11' 4"
Weight	60,000 pounds
Monitor capacity	10,000 GPM
Reaction force of monitor	5000 PSI
Maximum reach of stream	600'
Serial number	F715FSTT1001

Satellites

 The Super Pumper System was developed out of necessity due to the inability to build the tender as originally designed. The new system consisted of the Super Pumper, Tender, and three satellite tenders that were developed to carry the same amount of hose and equipment as originally intended for the tender.  Each of the three satellite were built on the Mack "C" model cab designated   model   C85FD.   They   were equipped with Mack END673 176 HP diesel engines and manual transmissions. Each was capable of carrying 2000 feet of 4 1/2 inch hose and had a Stang "Intelligiant" monitor that had a 6 inch barrel which was manually controlled.   These monitors had a water delivery capability of 4000 GPM and had 2, 2 1/2, 3, 3 1/2, and 4 inch tips as well as 700 and 2000 GPM fog tips. Each satellite had four inlets with two on each side. There was one checked and one unchecked inlet on each side. When lines were supplied to a satellite they were hooked up to the unchecked inlets first. All three satellites were equipped with portable manifolds.  These manifolds had 4 1/2 inch inlets and either six 2 1/2 inch gated outlets or two 3 inch and four 2 1/2 inch gated outlets. Weighing a little over 200 pounds, the portable manifolds were utilized efficiently at operations requiring many hand lines the Super Pumper could supply the manifold from a remote location with the manifold positioned in front of the fire scene.

 

SATELLITES

Length	25'7"
Width	8'
Height	10'9"
Monitor capacity	4000 GPM Butts
Model designation	C85FD

 

RUNS AND WORKERS
SUPER PUMPER and TENDER   The last response made by the Super Pumper occurred on April, 24th, 1982.	YEAR	RUNS	WORKERS
	1965	46	7
	1966	163	59
	1967	114	41
	1968	237	67
	1969	219	56
	1970	234	78
	1971	206	66
	1972	165	54
	1973	190	81
	1974	231	114
	1975	216	134
	1976	99	63
	1977	41	28
	1978	24	17
	1979	38	26
	1980	25	12
	1981	26	11
	1982	11	4
	TOTAL	2285	918

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above text is an adaptation of John A. Calderone’s book entitled, The F.D.N.Y. Super Pumper System. If you are looking for a more in-depth history of the above F.D.N.Y. vehicles mentioned in this article, I strongly recommend you purchasing a copy of the book which includes over 100 photos and illustrations. The book is still available from the following sites: http://www.fireapparatusjournal.com/sp-order.pdf and www.westchestercollect.com. Also available are copies of the blue prints for the Super Pumper System from http://www.grovegraphics.com/blueprints.htm

The blue-line blueprint will be made from the original velum drawing by a California firefighter that is over twenty-five years old. This print is NOT a photocopy but an actual blueprint. The overall size of this blueprint is approximately 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches.
 

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