Thomas Willett (fireboat)

Thomas Willett was a New York City Fire Department fireboat. She was launched in 1908 and retired in 1959. She was built as a steam-engine powered vessel with coal-fired boilers. She was converted to oil-fired boilers in 1926.

Operational history
At 02:00 hrs on July 5, 1927, a fire was discovered among cotton bales in the number 6 cargo hold of RMS Ebro as she approached New York. She docked in the North River just before 10:00 hrs, disambarked her passengers, and then John Purroy Mitchel and Thomas Willett fought the fire. It was extinguished by 14:00 hrs.

On August 14, 1927, a tugboat of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, towing two barges of railway rolling stock, collided with a train of rock barges towed by Henry F. Wills. Thomas Willett responded, when one barge was sunk and others damaged, saving their crew.

The FDNY retired Thomas Willett in 1959 and put her up for public sale. She was acquired by Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, who converted here into a tour boat and renamed her Circle Line XIV. As of 2021 she survives in Morris Canal Basin, Jersey City, as a floating office for Statue Cruises.