Fireboat Collection

LFDCA-LFB Lambeth HQ and Lambeth river station
A modernised Lambeth river fire station and the new fireboat London Phoenix, seen here from the north bank of the River Thames

LCC-LFB fireboat Massey Shaw, Westminster, London
A publicity photograph of the Massey Shaw fireboat with the Houses of Parliament in the background, used by the London County Council to promote the London Fire Brigade in its publications

LCC-LFB Warehouse fire, Butlers Wharf, Bermondsey
A major docklands fire at Butlers Wharf, Bermondsey, SE London. It happened during a particularly cold spell for March. The attack on the fire by a large number of firefighters

GLC-LFB Fire boat - Fire Hawk
Entering service in February 1976, the Fire Hawk was built by Watercraft of Shoreham at a cost of £ 60, 000. Measuring 45 feet in length, 13.5 inch beam and with a 3.5 foot draft

LCC-LFB Massey Shaw fireboat at Blackfriars
The Massey Shaw was built in 1935 by the J Samuel White company at Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was built to a London County Council design, and cost around £ 18, 000 to build

LCC-MFB Cherry Garden river fire station, SE London
Built by the London County Council, Cherry Garden river fire station was located at Cherry Garden Street in Bermondsey. It was one of four Metropolitan Fire Brigade river stations and, from 1904

Fireboat tackling fire at Colonial Wharf, East London
A fireboat tackles a fire at Colonial Wharf, Wapping High Street, East London, 27 September 1935. This was a typical big Thamesside fire of the sort which the London Fire Brigade has tackled for over

NFS (London Region) narrow boat fitted with fire pumps
There were 18 river fire stations along the length of the River Thames during WW2. They were used to accommodate the crews on a 24 hour standby to operate the fireboats

Fireboat Fire-Dart, River Thames
Fireboat Fire-Dart on the River Thames

London Fire Brigade fireboat Massey Shaw underway
The Massey Shaw fireboat nearing her berth at Blackfriars on the Victoria Embankment, London

LCC-MFB Battersea Bridge river fire station, SW8
Built by the London County Council, Battersea Bridge river station was located by Battersea Bridge on the River Thames. It was one of four Metropolitan Fire Brigade river stations and, from 1904

Massey Shaw fireboat demonstrates pumping
Moored at its Blackfriars river station on the Victoria Embankment, the newly commissioned Massey Shaw fireboat demonstrates its massive pumping capacity by discharging a vast amount of water

Misty morning, Milford Sound New Zealand, boat in the water
Vintage 19th century photograph: misty morning, Milford Sound New Zealand, boat in the water

LFB fireboat Delta II on the River Thames, London. Date: circa 1920s

London Fire Brigade fireboat Massey Shaw underway
The Massey Shaw fireboat nearing her berth at Blackfriars on the Victoria Embankment, London. Date: 1938

London Fire Brigade firemen on a fireboat, River Thames
London Fire Brigade firemen operating a hosepipe on a fireboat on the River Thames, with St Pauls Cathedral in the background. Date: circa 1940s

Scene of whale rescue attempt, River Thames, in which a Northern Bottlenose Whale was lost

LCC-LFB Ship fire on SS Leopard, Port of London
A fire crew, rigged in Proto one-hour oxygen breathing apparatus sets, descend into the smoking hold of the SS Leopard. The fire had broken out deep inside the vessels hold

LCC-LFB Massey Shaw fireboat, Blackfriars, London
Tied up at her Blackfriars moorings, the Massey Shaw fireboat gives a demonstration of her fire power from her Merryweather pumps

LCC-LFB fireboat Gamma II on River Thames
Fireboat Gamma II and crew, mid-stream on the River Thames in central London

LCC-LFB fireboat Gamma II with monitor in use at drill
The counter-weighted monitor of a London Fire Brigade fireboat in use whilst the fireboat is moored near Hungerford Bridge on the River Thames

LFB fireboat Beta II at Cherry Garden Pier
LCC-LFB fireboat Beta II (the sister craft to fireboat Beta) moored off its fire station at Cherry Garden Pier, Rotherhithe, SE London

Fireman from Massey Shaw reunited with family, WW2
A London fireman, who volunteered to crew the London Fire Brigades fireboat Massey Shaw, is reunited with his daughter after returning from the Dunkirk evacuations of late May and early June 1940

Armed London fireman reunited with family, WW2
A London fireman, who volunteered to crew the London Fire Brigades fireboat Massey Shaw, is reunited with his wife and daughter after returning from the Dunkirk evacuations in which the Massey Shaw

Fireboat Massey Shaw returning after Dunkirk, WW2
Crowds on the Albert Embankment greeting the returning London Fire Brigade fireboat Massey Shaw after it took part in the Dunkirk evacuation of Allied forces

LCC-LFB fireboats using monitors on the Thames, WW2
Auxiliary and regular firefighters getting monitors and jets of water to work from fireboats and a Thames barge near Westminster Bridge, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament

MFB fire float and tug with river firemen
A Metropolitan Fire Brigade fire float and tug with river firemen. These composite craft were introduced in 1877 by Captain Eyre Massey Shaw, Chief Fire Officer of the MFB

New Yorker fireboat at Battery landing, New York City, USA. Date: circa 1905

LFB fireboat in action outside County Hall, London
A London Fire Brigade fireboat in action on the River Thames outside County Hall, London

Massey Shaw fireboat with crew, River Thames, London
The London Fire Brigades Massey Shaw fireboat with five firefighters on deck behind the hose, two of them with medals on their uniforms

Massey Shaw fireboat, St Katharines Dock, East London
The London Fire Brigades Massey Shaw fireboat on the River Thames at St Katharines Dock, East London, with the Dickens Inn on the right

Blitz in London -- oil tank fire, Thames Haven, WW2
Blitz in London -- oil tank fire, Thames Haven, near Thurrock, Essex, 8 September 1940. Two fire floats of the Essex Fire Brigade moored alongside a jetty

LFB fireboat AFB2, River Thames, Pool of London
LFB fireboat AFB2 on the River Thames, Pool of London, with Tower Bridge in the distance

Massey Shaw fireboat, River Thames, London
The London Fire Brigades Massey Shaw fireboat with two firefighters on deck operating the hoses

Massey Shaw fireboat in action, River Thames, London
The London Fire Brigades Massey Shaw fireboat in action with hoses spraying, on the River Thames near the Thames Barrier at Woolwich, with firefighters on deck

Massey Shaw fireboat at work on the River Thames, with a firefighter directing a hose onto a building

Massey Shaw fireboat launch
Scene at the launch of the Massey Shaw fireboat. Date: 1935

Fire at Colonial Wharf, Wapping, East London, in September 1935, with billowing black smoke on the right. On the left, firefighters train their hoses from a fireboat on the River Thames. Date: 1935

Massey Shaw fireboat in action, with men directing the large hose

Operating the London Fire Brigades fireboat Massey Shaw below decks Date: circa late 1930s

The launch of the LFB Fireboat Massey Shaw at Cowes, officially launched by Mrs Morris, wife of the LFB Chief Major C C B Morris. Date: 1935

LFB Fireboat attending a fire at Colonial Wharf
A fireboat tackles a fire at Colonial Wharf. A typical big Thameside fire of the sort which the London fire Brigade had tackled over 100 years: Colonial Wharf, Wapping High Street, E1

Massey Shaw fireboat under repair

Massey Shaw fireboat on the River Thames -- aerial view with men working on deck

Fireboat Massey Shaw with eight hoses pumping. Date: 1935

London Fire Brigade fireboats on the Thames
London Fire Brigade fireboats on the River Thames

Lambeth Fireboat Station

Exercise Tideway at the Thames Barrier, Woolwich, SE London

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