Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat

The **Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat**, also known as the **Pattern 907 Fireboat**, is a vessel of the Harbour Helpers Line, SDY's line of products for harbours and ports as aides in daily life – not the most glorious of jobs and vessels, but all the more necessary.

Despite being specialized in combating fires on other vessels, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is also usable for extinguishing fires on the harbour front and as a first responder in other emergency situations.

The term *inneall dóiteáin* means fire engine, as in a vehicle used in firefighting.

## Design

The Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is a 500 tons heavy, 45 meters long and 12 meters wide flat-bottom vessel, which makes it very stable in calm and shallow waters, like rivers, lakes and especially harbours. This specific method of construction allows for a very shallow draft, 1.5 meters under full load, as the vessel is travelling on the water, not through it. However, this has the disadvantage of becoming very unstable in choppier or deeper waters.

The Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is crewed by five to seven firefighters, plus up to seven additional personnel, for example medical personnel. It can take aboard up to twenty people on the aft deck, but has only space for six stretchers in the deck house.

The vessel can attain a maximum speed of 18 knots or 33.3 km/h.

Two water jets aft provide forward and side propulsion. These jets, positioned at the aft, are axial-flow pumps, which are effective at low and medium speeds, and come equipped with reversing buckets, which allow for easy breaking and slowing down, as well as with a steerable nozzle – this allows for vectored thrust, which makes these vessels highly manoeuvrable. A bow and a stern thruster add to that manoeuvrability.

Power is supplied in a scheme known as Integrated Electric Propulsion, in short IEP, by two 4,000 kW Diesel Generators, the same as used on the Spéirling-class Fast Attack Craft. These 8,000 kilowatts not only power the water jets, but also every other systems aboard, down to the coffee maker on the bridge.

This arrangement is cheap to maintain and operate, as it eliminates the need for gearboxes and similar apparatuses.

The Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is equipped with a small navigational radar above the bridge.

The Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is 'armed' with nine monitors for hosing the fire down, which are fed by four pumps with a capability of pumping 2.4 million litres of water per hour out of the harbour. The full power can only be unleashed at stand-still. In that sense, and with the four connectors to the system and the hoses stored aboard, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat can act as a swimming fire hydrant.

All nine monitors can blend fire foam into the water sent away, with tanks aboard storing 10,000 litres of fire foam aboard. These tanks can easily be refilled, the pump connected to it being capable of sucking a tank truck dry within minutes, said tank truck standing in the pier next to the vessel.

The most powerful monitor is the bow-mounted deluge gun, a Gabha G-820 Deluge Gun with a maximum throughput of 30,000 litres per minute and a maximum range of 150 meters. Firefighting foam can be mixed into the stream at the tap of a button.

Six monitors are smaller Gabha G-815 Water Cannons, with three each mounted on port and starboard, with a throughput of 1,200 litres of water per minute. They are similar to the ones used aboard the Corrán-class Offshore Patrol Vessel. They, too, can spray foam in addition to simple water. These are the main armament, the bow-mounted deluge gun being for heavy incidents.

For smaller fires or for support to the larger water cannons, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is equipped with two Gabha G-816 Water Guns with a throughput of 600 litres per minute each. Both are mounted on the roof above the bridge.

If using all monitors at maximum throughput, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat can throw 38,400 litres of water and fire foam at a fire. The pumps aboard have a maximum delivery rate of 2.4 million litres of water per hour or 40,000 litres per minute.

All monitors can be controlled either at the monitor itself or remote controlled in a similar manner to a remote weapons station.

In order to enable the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat to combat fires involving chemical, biological and nuclear incidents, the vessel is completely NBC-protected.

In the superstructure, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat is equipped with a small crew lounge, store rooms for firefighting and medical equipment, a small bathroom and a small kitchen, as well as the sleeping room.

Fifteen capsules enable the crew to stay aboard for longer periods of time if needed. Inspired by capsule hotels, this cheap and small berthing arrangement provides a maximum amount of comfortable accommodations for the crew, including privacy by curtain. The capsules, modular and relocatable fibreglass blocks, measure 2.5 metres in length, 1.25 metres in width and 1.5 metres in height, with a mattress of 2.25 metres in length and 1 metre in width being provided. A closable cupboard running along the side of the capsule provides storage space for the inhabitant's belongings, while a locker is outside for larger stuff. A foldout panel by the entrance to the capsule is usable as a working surface.

Aft of the main superstructure, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat has a large aft deck. A small crane, with a lifting capacity of fifteen tons, allows for picking stuff up and putting it down, which includes the small motor dinghy, which can also be pushed into the water aft of the vessel. While this dinghy can not be used for firefighting (or rather, is not supposed to be used in firefighting), it is a valuable asset in the rescue of people in distress.

Without the dinghy, the aft deck can accommodate up to twenty people and has space for six stretchers, although the space is rather limited.

## History

It seems paradoxical, that one of the greatest dangers to shipping in our world is fire – but this danger is as real as the ships it happens on. So, firefighting in harbours is especially important.

The first fireboats in the Free Lands date back to the early 20th century, small, steam-powered ships with steam-powered pumps, their greatest exploits being the aid they rendered in the Great Harbour Fire of Wembury in 1910 and extinguishing of the Citadel Fire of Teanga of 1918. Under control of the Water Polices, these vessels were distributed to maximum effect and provided aid in countless incidents both big and small.

By the Fifties, these vessels were replaced by newer boats, but nowadays, they are getting on with the years. Despite the abilities of the Corrán-class Offshore Patrol Vessel in firefighting, it is not a dedicated fireboat, something, which the Water Polices insisted on possessing.

The development puttered along for a decade, until SDY was contracted to built the Novel-class Mobile City Ships, the Inneall Dóiteáin-class Fireboat becoming an integral part in the firefighting and fire prevention aboard. Plus, pressure from the Water Polices increased.

In November of 2019, the first vessel went down the slipway in Tipa. It is expected to be commissioned in March 2020 under the name Marla, after the protagonist of the TV-Show of the same name.