Fireboat No. 1 is 96feet long with a 21inchesft6inchesin (ftin) beam and a 6feet draft. Her seven water cannons have a capacity of . She has a steel deck and pilothouse. Her deck was originally lined with pipes capable of creating a spray around the ship. As built, she had three-screw drive powered by 425-horsepower gasoline engine, and was capable of making a speed of 15 knots. Two additional engines provided power to its water pumps, and another two could be used either for movement or pumping, differentiated by a clutch setting.[1]
Fireboat No. 1 was built in 1929 for the Port of Tacoma by the Coastline Shipbuilding Company of Tacoma, Washington for US$148,000. She is the only fireboat in U.S. history to protect a major port by herself for more than half a century. After 54 years of service in waterfront fire protection, harbor security patrols, search and rescue missions, and water pollution control, Fireboat No. 1 was put up on a permanent dry berth at a public beach near Tacoma's Old Town neighborhood. She is one of only five fireboats designated as a National Historic Landmark. Visitors are able to walk around her exterior, but her interior is closed to the public.