Built for the City of Toronto as an ice-breaking fire tug in 1929 by Collingwood Dry Dock, Shipbuilding and Foundry Company in Collingwood, Ontario, she was found to be too large for the city's needs and was leased to the City of Halifax in 1941 to provide service during the war years. She was staffed with a crew of 15 along with 13 professional Halifax firefighters on call at any one time. She was regularly used as an official greeter to foreign vessels entering the Harbour, offering an impressive display of up to 4500 gpm through her 3 deck guns and 16 outlets.
The Rouille fought many notable fires during her time in Halifax including the Halifax ferry, Cornwallis on December 22, 1944 and the Volendam fire in June, 1945.
In August, 1945, she took over from the James Battle and worked for the National Harbours Boarduntil1946 when she was sold to J.P.Porter & Co. to be used as a tug off Cape Breton Island. On December 3 1954, she met her final resting place when she sank off Cape Smokey with a loss of five lives. She remains on the rocks there to this day.