Our beloved and much admired Pyronaut needs urgent care and conservation.

Pyronaut is one of the few remaining heritage Fire Boats nationwide and she needs your help so we can continue to share her history and show off her amazing water displays on sunny days! If you have ever had the joy of being caught in her aim on a warm city day, you know she is a Bristol gem that the harbour would be poorer without.

We are in the process of conserving Pyronaut, but more work is needed. We are grateful for existing donations from two private donors as well as the Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives given to undertake the project.

But now we need your help with the last part! To fully protect her from future water damage we need to apply specialist paint to protect her hull from the changing water of the City Docks.

And good news – the Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives have once against stepped up to support the project. For every £1 donated they will match it (up to our £5000 target.) This would provide us with an incredible £10,000 to give Pyronaut the care she needs to continue serving the city.

Every little helps, and whatever we raise will go towards caring for Pyronaut and the working exhibits.

If you would like to make a donation over £250 please contact us directly at development@bristol.gov.uk

History

Pyronaut was originally built in 1934 for the Bristol Fire Brigade. She served for almost 40 years in the City Docks, before being chosen as a diver’s boat for the Port of Bristol, and later beginning transformation into a pleasure boat. 

She was purchased by the Museum in 1989 and the subsequent five years were spent reconstructing her original appearance. Since 1994, she has been an occasional trip boat and a regular performer at docks events, including the Bristol Harbour Festival, where her water displays have become a firm favourite.

She has been involved in putting out some of the largest peace time fires in the City Docks (including a serious blaze at the Bristol Hippodrome) as well as playing a prominent and life-saving role in the Bristol Blitz during the 1940s. Pyronaut was constantly manned and working through the worst raids of the war.

The return to peacetime duties meant less work and as time drew on a fire boat was no longer needed. In 1973, Pyronaut was withdrawn from service.

She was sold to the Port of Bristol Authority, who took her first to the Underfall Yard and later to Avonmouth and began work on converting her into a divers’ boat. This required removing all the fire-fighting pumps and equipment and moving the engines forward in the hull to create space for a changing room. Before the work was completed, the Port decided it no longer needed to employ its own divers, so the project was abandoned. 

Following a short stint with a private owner she was finally sold to M Shed in 1989 where she has been lovingly restored since, and now exists to share the heritage of Bristol Fire Brigade’s water heritage. She is lovingly cared for a skippered by a loyal team of M Shed volunteers. At the helm is Clive Brain, who also skippered her during her working years and his time with the Fire Brigade. His father was also the boat's coxswain during the second world war, so Pyronaut means a huge amount to him.

Our team of volunteers is waiting to give Pyronaut a coat of paint, which will protect her from the harbour water. The ph level of the water has increased in recent years making it more acidic. This corrodes the boat's hull faster. With an extra protective layer, Pyronaut should be fit for service once again.