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.