The North River fireboat, Marine One’s Three Forty Three, headed for the lower end of the Upper Bay last week for a hose salute, perhaps for an arriving ship coming through the Narrows. Three Forty Three and her sister ship Staten Island-based Firefighter II are among the largest and most advanced fireboats in the world. Built with Federal Homeland Security grants in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the name Three Forty Three references the number of firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, though more have subsequently perished from related illnesses.

A few days later, one of Three Forty Three’s predecessors, the retired John J Harvey, now owned by a non-profit group and docked at North River Pier 66a, also headed for the Upper Bay with an excursion group. The boat was in service from 1931 until 1994, though she assisted pumping water in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks as well.