this question was in my mind for years… if the anchor keeps the huge ship from drifting, how do you get free when you want to sail away ?
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The sheer weight of the chain and the drag that it causes in the water is what keeps large ships in place. Anchors on these massive ships don’t need to jam into anything at all to do their jobs, so the idea is to never have them land anywhere where it could be an issue.
Finally a topic I can talk about with some authority.
Now the really short answer is that a large ship’s anchor doesn’t get stuck because the anchor and chain are so big and strong that you’ll break any rocks and rip up the seabed before you’ll break the anchor and chain.
A bit of background on huge ships when they anchor.
The anchor is not actually used to hold the ship in position. An anchors purpose on large vessels is to “set” the chain. Which means to help stretch the chain out in a long line when lowering the chain to the seafloor. Because it is actually the combined weight of the anchor and its chain in conjunction with the friction of the length of chain on the seabed that holds a ship in position.
A common anchor on large ship’s is an AC-14 pattern. Which is commonly paired with U3 stud link chain links.
Finally a topic I can talk about with some authority.
Now the really short answer is that a large ship’s anchor doesn’t get stuck because the anchor and chain are so big and strong that you’ll break any rocks and rip up the seabed before you’ll break the anchor and chain.
A bit of background on huge ships when they anchor.
The anchor is not actually used to hold the ship in position. An anchors purpose on large vessels is to “set” the chain. Which means to help stretch the chain out in a long line when lowering the chain to the seafloor. Because it is actually the combined weight of the anchor and its chain in conjunction with the friction of the length of chain on the seabed that holds a ship in position.
A common anchor on large ship’s is an AC-14 pattern. Which is commonly paired with U3 stud link chain links.
Finally a topic I can talk about with some authority.
Now the really short answer is that a large ship’s anchor doesn’t get stuck because the anchor and chain are so big and strong that you’ll break any rocks and rip up the seabed before you’ll break the anchor and chain.
A bit of background on huge ships when they anchor.
The anchor is not actually used to hold the ship in position. An anchors purpose on large vessels is to “set” the chain. Which means to help stretch the chain out in a long line when lowering the chain to the seafloor. Because it is actually the combined weight of the anchor and its chain in conjunction with the friction of the length of chain on the seabed that holds a ship in position.
A common anchor on large ship’s is an AC-14 pattern. Which is commonly paired with U3 stud link chain links.
The anchor doesn’t hold the ship, the chain does. People think of the anchor as holding the full force of the ship and the chain just being a connection, but the weight of the chain actually does most of the work. The anchor just helps getting the chain out and in place, basically.
When dropping anchor, ships drop around 5x the depth worth of chain.
The anchor keeps the chain from getting pulled sideways, but when you pull straight up, the anchor comes out relatively easily.
The anchor doesn’t hold the ship, the chain does. People think of the anchor as holding the full force of the ship and the chain just being a connection, but the weight of the chain actually does most of the work. The anchor just helps getting the chain out and in place, basically.
When dropping anchor, ships drop around 5x the depth worth of chain.
The anchor keeps the chain from getting pulled sideways, but when you pull straight up, the anchor comes out relatively easily.
The anchor doesn’t hold the ship, the chain does. People think of the anchor as holding the full force of the ship and the chain just being a connection, but the weight of the chain actually does most of the work. The anchor just helps getting the chain out and in place, basically.
When dropping anchor, ships drop around 5x the depth worth of chain.
The anchor keeps the chain from getting pulled sideways, but when you pull straight up, the anchor comes out relatively easily.
To add to what others have said, I dropped anchor into a fish farm once (because I’m an idiot I know) and it grabbed that thing hard.
Had to let it out aaaaaaal the way, and the back of the chain was roped into the boat (the chain was geld by the gears so this rope wasn’t pulled on just stopped it dropping accidently)
Attached a boy, cut the rope and dropped the anchor.
Wasn’t worth going back for so I posted about it and told people to help themselves if they could get it up it was theirs, it was gone in a few days.
So the truthful answer is, if your stupid enough, they can get stuck lol.
Big ships usually anchor in designated anchorages that are known to have a soft bottom that is clear of obstructions; rocks, reefs, cables, etc. The boundaries are clearly marked on nautical charts. For major ports, that’s usually the only place they can anchor except in an emergency.
To add to what others have said, I dropped anchor into a fish farm once (because I’m an idiot I know) and it grabbed that thing hard.
Had to let it out aaaaaaal the way, and the back of the chain was roped into the boat (the chain was geld by the gears so this rope wasn’t pulled on just stopped it dropping accidently)
Attached a boy, cut the rope and dropped the anchor.
Wasn’t worth going back for so I posted about it and told people to help themselves if they could get it up it was theirs, it was gone in a few days.
So the truthful answer is, if your stupid enough, they can get stuck lol.
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