FIRE BOAT: Stories of Maritime Valor - Breaking the Ice

Breaking the Ice

When the decision was made to design the William S. Grattan as an icebreaker as well as a fireboat, it was based mostly on necessity and convenience. Every winter, severe weather would create a virtual ice lock on the Buffalo River and channel. Boats and ships remained docked for months at a time, and had to be continuously attended to as newly formed ice had to be cleared to prevent damage to the boats themselves. With the added weight of the ice, these boats risked capsizing and sinking. 

Even though the Grattan’s sister boats, the Potter and the Hutchinson were steel hulled and capable of clearing ice, neither boat was designed to actually break it for sustained time and not against the thickness of ice often formed in the river. The Grattan would be the first Buffalo fireboat designed to perform both firefighting and icebreaking duty.

Controlling these icy river conditions as best as possible for the length of winter was simply a way of life, but the changes in the world economy demanded more. If the city of Buffalo were to survive, much less thrive, it had to develop its own ability to keep the waterway clear for shipping and to support the growing industrial complex. Furthermore, water flow from the surrounding areas that drain into the Buffalo River back up and cause local flooding. The continuous flow of the river into Lake Erie has to be maintained year-round, and the addition of the icebreaking capability of the Grattan was the ideal way to do so. Getting the boat on the drawing board and into production was only the beginning.  

As one single boat could be designed and built as a firefighting vessel and an icebreaker, there were still operational issues to consider. The first was how the boat would integrate within the Department. The boat would require a fully trained crew and round-the-clock availability. The Fire Department provided firefighters, and for a marine crew, experienced seamen came forward. As far as the crew throughout the year was concerned, the same training and manpower plans used on the existing fireboats would have sufficed. The Pilot would have to be an experienced seaman and would lead the marine crew. A fire department officer, a captain or lieutenant, would direct firefighting operations. The firefighting procedures for the George R. Potter and the John T. Hutchinson would have to be adapted to the new crew.  

But when it came to icebreaking, this was new territory for the city of Buffalo. Information was needed on how to design and then utilize the new boat with this dual purpose in mind. The engine, boiler and pump configurations had to be determined, as the horsepower needed to push the boat through the thickest ice had to be balanced with firefighting capability. The final hull size could not be so large or the boat have a draft so deep that it would not be able to navigate within the service area of the waterfront. The draft of a boat is the distance between the waterline and the bottom of the boat, determining the minimal water depth the boat could operate in. Throughout her history, there were certain areas of the river the boat could not reach. Today, the Buffalo River coverage area for the Edward M. Cotter runs from the Lake Erie Basin and The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park through to the area of Seneca Avenue and Elk Avenue. Beyond that area, the river level drops to the point where safe navigation becomes an issue.  

Interest in opening up passageways in the arctic to satisfy commercial and defense initiatives led to improved icebreaker construction and utilization tactics, as well as the formation of the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter Service predated the United States Coast Guard involvement in icebreaking by maintaining a fleet of boats pushing north into the arctic. The Russian claim of the Yermak, built in 1898, as the first true icebreaker remains in dispute, as other boats were being built at that time. The United States Coast Guard adopted icebreaking duties from the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915, but did not expand them until well into the 1920s.  It was from this earlier technology that the design of the William S. Grattan was drawn.  

Breaking the Ice – An Explanation:

Primarily, an icebreaker travels through a frozen waterway and breaks the surface ice. This allows water to flow, and subsequent shipping can occur. In the process, this boat must withstand the pressure of ice being driven against the bow and sides of the hull. Ice displaced by the forward movement of the boat settles down into the water as the boat passes on. Early icebreakers were built with reinforced wood and rounded bows. They were designed to ride up on ice and break down through it. Pushing through the ice as opposed to riding up on it was a new method, brought about by boats with reinforced steel hulls and pointed bows such as the Grattan. This push through method is still in use by the Cotter today.  

The Grattan was built with a 1½” thick iron belt around the boat at the waterline. Combined with her engine power, this enabled the boat to break up to a 20-inch solid surface of ice. Often the boat can continue as thinner ice is broken, but eventually the boat may hit a thicker area of ice and be stopped. This requires the boat to reverse and hit the ice section again. As the ice is broken, ice floes form and push against the sides of the boat as it continues on. The strength of the Grattan’s hull enabled it to withstand this side-to-side pressure. At the discretion of the pilot of the boat, the section of ice broken may be as little as 10-20 feet forward, and the boat will move to the sides and widen that section of the opened channel.  The boat may only follow a straight single path and widen the channel later, or follow a circular or oblong course moving from the shoreline across to the opposite shore and clearing a section at a time. As water flow is established and the cleared path is widened, the current sweeps the loose ice out into Lake Erie. Without that widened ice-free channel all the way to the lake, the floating ice can refreeze and form natural dams within the channel and cause flooding locally and further up into the surrounding areas.   

The Erie County Watershed covers all or part of seven counties in the State of New York. A watershed is defined as "all of the land area that drains to one particular spot." (Erie.gov\environment) As the water drains, it is carried by various streams and rivers and converges in the Buffalo River.

 

During winter months, areas of the Buffalo River freeze, slowing water flow to the point where flooding upstream is common. Keeping the river clear and flowing is accomplished in part by the efforts of The City of Buffalo Department of Public Works and The Buffalo Fire Department. The Edward M. Cotter remains in active duty to help keep the waterway clear and flowing.

What It Was Like to Serve on a Steam Powered Icebreaking Fireboat.

It is likely that experienced men from the Hutchinson and the Potter were assigned to guide new crew members in fireboat operations. As icebreaking was a new practice, instructors from an outside source would be needed to develop and train the crews assigned to the boat.

No matter how comprehensive the training, nothing can fully prepare a crew for what they might encounter in a real situation.  The Grattan arrived in Buffalo in November of 1900. There was likely little time to prepare as the winter was only a few weeks away; Buffalo may have already had its first freeze. The icebreaker would not have been permitted to get ice locked with the rest of the waterfront while the crew sits in class. Getting a crew ready to deal with ice would have been the first priority after the transit shakedown cruise from Elizabeth.  

Imagine going aboard that first time. Similar to the other two fireboats in some respects, the first task would have been to get used to the layout of the boat and where everything was. The engineering crew, the stokers, boilermen and the Chief Engineer would be below getting situated and preparing the engines and priming the pumps. The boat had to have a full firefighting crew at all times, and be ready for anything throughout a tour. The remainder of the crew would be working not only with the firefighting equipment but familiarizing themselves with the duties of regular seamanship. Firefighters today say, “train like your life depends on it, because it does.” For the Grattan’s crew, it went without saying. If the waterfront didn’t already have an ice issue, it would soon enough.  

The mission was establishing and practicing methods for icebreaking along the Buffalo River. The Grattan was a brand-new boat that had never been utilized in this manner. There’s no way to truly practice icebreaking without ice.  

Maybe her first mission with ice coverage went well below the Grattan’s rated impact and break ability of 20 inches. It would take a while for that kind of ice to build up and it might not have happened as the Grattan would continuously clear the ice. Or, the winter of 1900-1901 might have been harsh enough that the crew faced this extreme during that first winter. Leaving the pier at Station 20, the Grattan would eventually encounter such ice; perhaps not at the maximum thickness, but certainly the kind of ice that called for her construction to begin with. The Grattan would push through the thinner ice near the pier before moving further out into the river. Station 20 being roughly midstream in the Buffalo River, turning upstream meant thicker ice, while turning downstream with the greater waterflow out into the channel and the lake might mean the ice thickness would be less. One direction or the other, the ice had to be cleared for as much of the riverbed as possible, and encountering thicker and thicker ice was only a matter of time.

The Grattan strikes her first ice wall doing somewhere around 12 knots. (10-12 miles per hour). And not just once, and not by pulling up and resting against the ice and pushing forward. It’s a collision, and many of them as the boat continues to make its way moving forward or side to side widening the channel. The impact of the boat as it moves forward against the ice is combined with the pressure of water and ice against the sides of the hull. The noise is continuous. The stokers have shovels in their hands as they are feeding the furnace. The crew on deck are watching for progress to keep the captain apprised. Every time the boat strikes the ice wall, it’s jarring everything and everyone.  Now imagine undergoing those conditions for several hours until the channel is clear and water is flowing again.  

The Responsibilities of the Officers and Crew.

The Grattan’s pilot had the role of providing nautical leadership, as well as assisting the commander of the firefighting crew during actual emergencies. When on an icebreaking maneuver, the pilot was in command of the boat. The status of the channel was continuously evaluated by him through communication with the crew. How and where ice was cleared and floes were accumulating dictated how much forward progress could be made, and if the boat needed to reverse to keep the freshly broken ice from re-forming. By remaining in the pilothouse, he had roughly a 180-degree view forward. With assistance from another crew member to assume the helm, he could step out of the pilothouse to observe conditions directly.  

The crew, including the Chief Engineer below deck, had a much more difficult time. A coal burning furnace had to be continuously monitored and fed during the entire duration of any mission. Cold weather meant nothing to those below deck, but crew on deck keeping watch of progress were out in what were often rough sea conditions hampered by snow and rain.  Today, specially designed and heavy foul weather gear is worn to provide protection from hypothermia (frostbite). The crew of the Grattan probably wore regular winter clothing under rubber coats and boots.

By keeping the Buffalo River clear, the river’s three tributaries, Cayuga Creek, Buffalo Creek, and Cazenovia Creek, as well a 447 square mile section of the Erie Watershed would continue to drain and remain flowing.