anchors

The first anchors were probably made of stone. The disc-shaped stones had at least one hole in the middle, to hold the line, and stone anchors could probably also serve as ballast. Stone anchors have been used in parts of the world down to historic times. In Roman times, in the Mediterranean, ship anchors were made of lead and wood, or entirely of iron.

After Antiquity, European anchors are mostly made of iron, often with a wooden stock. Starting in the 19th century, the stock was made of iron instead of wood. Also, the anchor rope was replaced by the anchor chain.

Anchors should be selected based on the era the ship was in service. In a previous article, we discussed the need to decide early on in ship model construction how the model will display. All accessories, including the anchor, must be displayed along with the way the ship is launched, that is, in the port, sailing in the sea, in the port or in battle.

The anchor should be attached to your model ship by passing a piece of chain through the shackle. A piece of rope is then attached to the chain and attached to the windlass. There are many ways to get the rope through the boat to the windlass. There should also be a line attached to the crown which is used as a trip line to free the anchor from the seabed in case it becomes entangled.

Cast Your Anchor has a large selection of different types of anchors used throughout the centuries.

Depending on the size of the ship, from 3 to 10 anchors and their cables made up the ships’ shore tackle. The warship had an anchor on each side of the bow and two or more tied to the channels.

parts of an anchor

Before looking at various types of anchors, we should familiarize ourselves with the parts of an anchor. Any anchor consists of the ring (shackle), tang, stock, arms, crown, and flounder or palm.

The Ring, or Shackle, is attached to the top of the shank, to which the cable or chain is attached.

The Stem is the perpendicular or center piece of an anchor.

The Stock is made of wood or iron; if it is made of iron, it passes through the lower hole in the upper end of the stem; if it is made of wood, it is built around the shaft, in the same place, and it is screwed and screwed; it lies at right angles to the arms and, being much longer, tilts the anchor with one flipper downward, causing it to catch on the ground.

The arms are the two triangular pieces at the lower end of the shaft, forming hooks, one of which always hooks or digs into the ground when the anchor is released, to keep the ship in a stationary position. The end of the arm refers to the bead or the pee.

The Crown is the lower end of the rod, where the arms or fins meet.

The flounder or palm is the wide triangular piece at the end or beak of the arms. It is built to have a greater grip on the ground.

bower and sheet anchor

The bower anchor was mainly used to anchor the ship. The largest, called the “best arbor”, was carried from the bunk in the starboard bow. A leaf anchor is a replacement gazebo.

spanish anchor

The Spanish Anchor is typical of the anchors of the 17th to 18th centuries. The general shape associated with this time period is a classic arrow shape with a long shaft, angular arms, and a wooden stock.

Early 18th century anchor

This type of anchor was used on British ships and was characterized by having a straight handle with two arched arms ending in leaf-shaped fins. At one end of the stem are two arms that carry the fins, while the stock is mounted at the other end, at ninety degrees to the arms. When the anchor lands on the bottom, it is usually landed with its arms parallel to the seabed. As tension is produced in the impeller, the breech will sink to the bottom, tilting the anchor until one of the fins engages and sinks to the bottom.

kedge anchor

On yachts, a kedge anchor is an anchor carried in addition to the main or bow anchors, and is usually stowed in the stern. Each yacht must carry at least two anchors: the main or bow anchor and a second, lighter edge anchor. It is used occasionally when it is necessary to limit the turning radius when the yacht rolls at anchor, such as in a very narrow river or deep pool in a shallow area.

In the case of ships, a ridge may be dropped while the ship is underway, or it may be carried out in a suitable direction by a dinghy or ship’s dinghy to allow the ship to be winched up if it runs aground or it is turned in a particular course, or even to keep it stable. against a tide or other current.

Historically, it was of particular relevance to warships using it to outrun opponents when the wind had dropped, but it could be used by any vessel in confined, shallow water to place it in a more desirable position, provided it had enough labour.

grapnel anchor

It is used for trawling the bottom for lost items and for anchoring small boats. A traditional design, the grapple is simply a shank with four or more teeth. It has the advantage that regardless of how you get to the bottom, one or more teeth will be aimed at the set. On coral, it can often be quickly attached by hooking onto structure, but can be more difficult to retrieve.

Grapples rarely have enough fin area to develop a lot of grip in sand, clay or mud. It is not uncommon for the anchor to get dirty in its own travel, or to dirty the tines with debris from the bottom, preventing it from sinking. On the other hand, it is quite possible that this anchor would find a hook so good that without a line traveling from the crown, it would be impossible to retrieve it.

Danforth Anchor

A type of lightweight burial anchor with a high holding power to weight ratio. It works best on sandy, muddy or clay bottoms. It uses a crown stock to which two large flat triangular fins are attached. The stock is hinged so that the fins can be oriented towards the bottom (and in some designs can be adjusted for optimal angle depending on the type of bottom). The palms of the hands on the crown act to angle the fins toward the seabed. The design is a buried variety, and once well set it can develop high strength. Its light weight and compact flat design make it easy to retrieve and relatively easy to store.

The tail anchor has difficulty penetrating bottoms covered with seaweed and weeds, as well as rocky and particularly hard sandy or clay bottoms. If there is a strong current, or if the boat is moving while dropping anchor, it is possible for it to “skid” or “skid” on the bottom due to the large area of ​​the caudal fin acting as a sail or wing. Once set, the anchor tends to break and reset when the direction of force changes drastically, such as at the turn of the tide, and on some occasions it may not reset at all but drag.

marine anchor

Heavy ship anchor with large fins and no stock so the tang can be pulled out through the broom. The enormous weight of these anchors makes them unsuitable for a small vessel.