ANCHORS.
FIG. 1.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 5.
These ponderous instruments are used for the purpose of securing ships and other vessels, that they may not be driven onwards by the wind or tide. They are attached to a strong rope or chain, called the “cable,” and when not in use are kept swung at the fore-part or bow of a ship, the cable being wound round an apparatus called the capstan, which serves to let it out or draw it in. Anchors are made of iron, and are of the form delineated in [fig. 1]. The straight part from the ring to the bend is called the “shank,” the curved part is made up of the two “arms,” and the centre where it joins the shank is called the “crown.” At the end of each arm is a plate of iron of triangular form, called a “fluke,” and crossing the shank close to the ring is the “stock,” which is made of two pieces of oak bound together with iron bands; sometimes it is made wholly of iron, as in [fig. 2], in which case it runs through a hole in the shank, and has one of its ends curved for the purpose of packing more closely and saving space ([fig. 3]). The anchor, when let fall from the ship, carries the cable with it, and generally falls on the crown, then tilts over so that the stock lies flat on the bottom and one of the flukes sinks in to a considerable depth by its great weight; when the ship drags at the cable it lifts up the stock and throws the whole weight of the anchor on the fluke, and makes it sink completely; any further pull must bring up a large piece of the earth before it can be moved. In “weighing” anchor, that is in pulling it up from the bottom to bring it on board again, the cable is slowly wound up by the capstan, and as the cable is shortened the ship is drawn along to a point nearly over where the anchor rests, when—the pull at the cable continuing—the shank is raised into an upright position, and the fluke and arm, instead of dragging up a great piece of earth, remove but a small portion, as may be seen by the dotted lines in [figs. 4] and [5], which show the earth to be removed before the anchor can be drawn from its hold.
Large vessels carry four anchors, the “best bower,” the “small bower,” the “sheet,” and the “spare” anchors, their size depending on the size of the ship, the rule in the Royal Navy being a hundred-weight for each gun; so that an eighty-gun ship carries anchors of four tons each, or eighty hundredweight. Anchors are made of the best and toughest wrought iron, and the greatest care is necessary in forging them in order that there may be no flaw in the welding, for a ship may be lost by an anchor breaking.