Small ship anchor handling

[Dr PR]

I have been working on a model of a topsail schooner, and had a number of questions about how the anchors were handled. Looking through the literature, and at some of the schooner models on the Forum, it seems that there are several different methods. So which was right for the model I am building?

 

I have a 1980s Mantua Albatros "Goletta Typpica de Baltimora" kit. The kit contains a lot of the "standard" parts the company threw into many kits, regardless of scale and many of these were not well made. When I compare the kit to drawings in Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper I see a lot of questionable details. The kit includes a capstan, and some topsail schooners used capstans for weighing anchor. But many kits and drawings have windlasses, and some show nothing for handling the anchor.

 

There are other discussions on the Forum about anchor handling in small craft, with lots of opinions. What I present here is a compilation of these discussions and material from several references. What I am interested in is how smaller ships that had no windlass or capstan handled the anchor.

 

Anchor Tackle

The anchor tackle on smaller vessels consists of two assemblies used for dropping and raising the anchor. Larger ships may have permanent fish davits and a different arrangement for handling the anchor. Small ships often used a version of what is shown here.

 

The crown or fluke end of the anchor is typically secured to the side of the ship with a shank painter of rope or chain secured to bitts or timberheads to support the fluke end. A stopper rope to support the stock of the anchor is secured to the cathead on one end, looped through the anchor ring and then the free end is looped around a cleat and secured to a timberhead.

 

To drop the anchor the anchor cable is brought up from the cable tier, run through the hawse hole and secured to the ring on the anchor (on some ships the cable is always attached to the anchor ring). Then the cat block and hook are attached to the anchor ring.

 

The fish davit is rigged with it resting on the cap rail and the inboard end resting against some firm object like the mast or knight head. The davit may be positioned over the anchor flukes using fore and after guys. The fish pendant runs over a sheave in the end of the fish davit. It has a large fish hook on the lower end and the upper end is tied around a thimble. The fore tackle is hooked into the thimble and provides the lifting force to raise and lower the anchor. I have also seen drawings where the fish tackle was rigged to the fore course spar and a fish davit was not used.

 

With the fish pendant and cat tackle pulled tight the shank painter securing the anchor to the ship is removed. The anchor is then lowered along the ship's side with the fore tackle and fish pendant until it is hanging beneath the cathead on the cat tackle. Then the fish hook is unhooked and taken in. The cat tackle is slacked to allow the stopper to carry the weight of the anchor, and then the tackle is tied back to clear the anchor. To drop the anchor the stopper is released from the timberhead and allowed to slip over the cleat, allowing the anchor to fall.

 

To weigh (raise) the anchor the anchor cable is hauled in using tackles (smaller vessels), a windless or a capstan and messenger line (larger ships). Smaller schooners often did not have a capstan or windlass so one or two luff tackles were used to pull a messenger line that was lashed to the anchor cable. If one tackle was used when it became two blocked (both blocks come together) the anchor cable was secured to the bitts and the messenger was run out again and tied to the cable. When two tackles were used and one tackle was two blocked the other tackle was tied to the cable to continue pulling while the first was run out again. The messenger line might be a loop with one side tied to the anchor cable to haul it in and the other returning forward. When the anchor broke the surface the cat hook was attached to the anchor ring. Then the anchor was “catted” by raising it to the cathead with the cat tackle.

 

The fish davit and pendant were rigged and the fish hook was hooked to the anchor stock at the flukes. The anchor was “fished” using the fore tackle to hoist the flukes up to the cap rail where the shank painter ropes or chains were passed around the anchor and secured to timber heads or cleats to support the anchor. Then the fish pendant was unhooked. A wooden fender or "shoe" was placed between the anchor flukes and the side of the ship to protect the hull as the anchor was being fished.

 

On some ships the anchor head remained suspended by the cat tackle. On other vessels the head of the anchor was secured with stopper lines to cleats or timberheads. The cat tackle was usually left hooked to the anchor ring. The anchor cable may have been removed and stowed in the cable tier.

 

One reference said two hefty seamen could hoist a relatively light anchor with a simple tackle. By increasing the number of sheaves in the tackle greater lifting power could be achieved, but at the expense of having to pull more line through the tackle and a much slower process. But with heavier anchors this system was not practical.

 

Instead of the luff tackles a capstan could be used to pull a messenger loop wound around the capstan and running around the fore deck and back to the capstan. The messenger was tied to the anchor cable and hauled back until the lashings reached the cable tier. Then new lashings would be tied around the cable and messenger up forward and the hauling would be continued until the anchor was catted.

 

With a windlass on the fo'c'sle the anchor cable would be wound around the  barrel or warping drum. For dropping the anchor the winch would be allowed to rotate freely. When weighing the anchor the windlass ratchet mechanism would allow men with poles to turn the barrel to haul in the cable. The cable could be secured with stopper lines to bitts.

 

One other detail I came across is that the anchor might be hauled inboard after the cable was detached and stored below decks in the cable tier.

 

Here are a couple of useful references:

 

The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever in 1808 (reprinted by Algrove Publishing Ltd., Ottowa, Ontario, Canada, 2000) tells the novice officer or seaman how to rig a ship - every detail of how to put all the pieces of the masts and rigging together. It is essentially an illustrated glossary of nautical terms and a how-to book. It has a discussion of anchors and anchor handling.

 

The Art of Rigging by George Biddlecombe  in 1925 (reprinted by Echo Point Books & Media, LLC., Brattleboro, Vermont, USA, 2016) is based upon David Steel's 1794 The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship. It has an excellent glossary and many illustrations. I think you can find Steel's original book on line as a PDF file.

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Dr PR

[VinceMcCullough]

Thanks for this. I was just preparing to rig the anchor on my own topsail schooner model (Marine Models’ Virginia Privateer) and studying my references. It helps to clarify some of my questions. 
 

An additional reference that I would recommend is “The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1825” by Peter Goodwin. There is a good discussion of stowing anchors on page 54.

 

Vince McCullough

[Dr PR]

Vince,

 

Thanks for the reference. I'll see if I can find a copy.

[allanyed]

Vince, Phil,

 

The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1825 is by Brian Lavery.   Goodwin's most sought after book is also a great book to have, that is the Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War 1650-1850   Similar titles but totally different information in each.  Both are in my top 10 when it comes to actually be used as references.

 

Allan

[VinceMcCullough]

Oops. You are correct. Sorry, Brian.

[jud]

The Cat tackle is used to lift the anchor from the water after being hoisted, can also be used to hold and control it while the rigging for stowage was put in place, it is not used to let go by releasing the hook on the Cat Tackle. To be used to let go, a pelican hook or similar device would be needed on the Cat Tackle instead of the hook you find there. The cat tackle is also used to lift the anchor to a quick release fitting attached to the Cat, then removed and two-blocked out of the way while the anchor hangs from the quick release device, when ready, it is let go from there, the cable follows it down being fed by the measured and flaked out cable on deck led through the Hawse Hole. Never used a Cat, but have anchored by tossing the anchor by hand and lifting it the same way, have used a sledge on the pelican hook aboard a Fletcher Class Destroyer to let go, in that case the chain ran out the Hawse, fed around the capstan from the chain locker below. Anchor cables unless very small were not wrapped around the drums of Windless or Capstans and allowed to run freely when letting go, until brakes became the norm to control them, by then it was mostly anchor chain. Good post, just a little more research with some study of the laws of physics needed. Loosening the brake to much and then overheating in an attempt to regain control, modern, but the forces at work are the same and the folly of letting capstans and windlasses to run free can be seen. https://bangshift.com/bangshiftxl/runaway-anchors-watch-what-happens-when-ships-lose-the-handle-on-100-tons-of-iron/

[Dr PR]

Jud,

 

Thanks. You are correct that the anchor was not let go from the cat hook! My error!

 

Lever/Blunt "Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" doesn't describe letting go the anchor. However, it says that when the anchor was catted a rope stopper that was attached on one end to the cathead was looped through the anchor ring and then the free end was taken round a cleat on the cathead and hauled taut, and the end secured to a timber head and stopped.

 

To drop the anchor it was lowered until it is hanging from the cathead by the stopper. The cat tackle could be used to carry the ring while the crown end is being lowered. Then the cat tackle would be slacked to let the stopper hold the anchor. The tackle would be tied back to clear the anchor. To let go the anchor the stopper was freed from the timberhead and allowed to slip off the cleat, allowing the anchor to drop.

 

I will correct the original post.

 

Of course, like everything else in the construction, rigging and operation of wooden sailing ships there was no single "correct" way to do things. There were different techniques used in different parts of the world and at different times. I do not know when pelican hooks were introduced, but I have read somewhere there was at least one other quick release "hook" in use before the pelican hook.

 

I am familiar with modern (20th century) anchor handling:

 

https://www.okieboat.com/Free steaming.html

Edited March 3, 2021 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

See this link for a model implementation of this anchor retrieval method:

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1015509

[popeye2sea]

I read somewhere (forgive me, I can't remember the reference) that at one time a quick release was built into a stopper mechanism attached to the cat head timber.  The stopper was released by striking the release mechanism open with a maul by a sailor at the inboard end or on top of the cat head timber.  Similar to the way a pelican hooks works today.

 

Henry

[Dr PR]

Henry,

 

I too have read something about a quick release for the anchor stopper for dropping the anchor. And I cannot remember where either!

[Jim Lad]

These illustrations from George Campbell's "China Tea Clippers" (1974) may be of some interest.

 

John

 

[SteveA]

I have an old Revenue Cutter kit that I work on occasionally, the AL Dallas kit now discontinued.  Anyway, the instructions and plans make no mention about rigging the anchors.  The only clue is from the picture on the box.  It looks like the anchors are loosely secured around the Bowsprit Bitt and then through the grating.  The anchor is also lashed to a railing stanchion and the fluke is secured to the Bowsprit Bitt.  Does this seem like a reasonable way to rig the anchors?

[Dr PR]

Steve,

 

I think that would not work in heavy seas or when the ship heeled over in strong winds. The anchor can rotate around the single attachment point and could easily fall overboard. The ring at the top of the anchor could be secured to the first stanchion and the junction of the shank and arms (crown at the bottom) lashed to the second stanchion.

 

These small revenue cutters were designed to operate close to shore and didn't spend a lot of time out at sea. If a storm came up they would head back into harbor. Still, it would be bad if the anchor slipped over the side when you weren't expecting it, so securing it with two ropes (the stopper on the ring and shank painter on the crown) would be cheap insurance.

 

If the vessel was just going out on a short one day mission they would have left the anchor cable secured to the anchor. But I have seen several references that said the anchors on some schooners were hauled back and stowed below the main hatch. Probably on ocean-going vessels that would be at sea for many days.

 

Because the ship doesn't have catheads the anchor would be raised and lowered with the fore mast tackle - the strong cargo handling tackle.

[Dr PR]

Jim,

 

I have that book and I am sure that is where I saw the mechanisms for releasing the stopper to drop the anchor. However, I suspect that mechanism came into use in the later part of the 1800s or early 1900s.

 

Most of the books I have read about late 1700s and early 1800s ships just say the loose end of the stopper was "secured to a cleat."  But if the weight of the anchor was pulling on the stopper it would not have been easy to get the rope off of the cleat!

 

I think I have seen a sketch of a stopper with an eye spliced into the loose end, and the eye was hooked over a pin on the bulwark or cathead. To drop the anchor the pin was pulled out. However, I have no idea where (or if) I saw that.

[popeye2sea]

12 hours ago, SteveA said:

I have an old Revenue Cutter kit that I work on occasionally, the AL Dallas kit now discontinued.  Anyway, the instructions and plans make no mention about rigging the anchors.  The only clue is from the picture on the box.  It looks like the anchors are loosely secured around the Bowsprit Bitt and then through the grating.  The anchor is also lashed to a railing stanchion and the fluke is secured to the Bowsprit Bitt.  Does this seem like a reasonable way to rig the anchors?

It has been my experience in the USN that nothing is to be secured to a life rail stanchion. They are much too lightly constructed to hold any considerable weight.  In fact, we were always taught to not even lean against them while underway.  I have personally seen life rail stanchions go by the board when struck with a heavy object in a high sea state.

About the most we ever attached to them would be a temporary light line for an awning or something similar.

 

Regards,

Henry

[SteveA]

I thought it odd as well to secure such a heavy object to a stanchion.  Perhaps the anchor was secured to the knighthead and bowsprit bitts in some fashion?  

[Dr PR]

I agree. We were told to not lean on the life lines (chains between stanchions). Life rails (pipes) were likewise not to be trusted. Both served to mark the edges of decks at night and provide something to hang on to when the deck was pitching and rolling.

 

In the case of the revenue cutter model the stanchions appear to be oversized and probably strong enough to support the anchor under "normal" conditions. But I doubt that the anchor was attached to the real stanchions on these small vessels if they were going into any rough seas or high winds.

[Roger Pellett]

It may just be the angle of the photo but those anchors appear to be over scale.  If the revenue cutters were actually fitted out with the metal stock anchors it would that they would have been brought inboard, the stocks collapsed, and the anchors stored flat on d.eck lashed to ringbolta.

 

Roger

[Dr PR]

Roger,

 

Good point! Kit anchors are rarely to scale - they are just what the manufacturer has on hand in an approximate size.

 

Also, Steve's Dallas kit anchor is an iron shank type where the iron stock can be slipped through the hole in the shank and folded beside the shank. When did this type of anchor come into use?

 

Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models (page 186) shows the Admiralty pattern from 1840 and Trotman's anchor from 1850. I looked in other references and could find no earlier references for this type anchor. The small revenue cutters were built early in the 1800s, probably before this type anchor was introduced.

 

For small vessels the anchor was probably stowed on deck lashed to bitts or timberheads.

[SteveA]

As it happens, I won’t be using the kit supplied anchors regardless of scale or period correctness.  I just opened the bag they were in and they fell apart.  I don’t know what they are made from, but it looks like the anchors would have eventually disintegrated even if installed when the kit was new.  The carronade barrel was unusable as well.  The kit box has a copyright date of 1978.  Now I need to look for appropriate replacements for a revenue cutter circa 1815 around 1:50 scale.  

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Castings made form "pot metal" - generally zinc-based - may have certain contaminates that cause the cast metal to crack and fall apart atfer only a couple decades.  Many cheaper early cast zinc toy trains suffered from this 'zinc pest' ... I'm not up on exactly the nature of the contaminant, be it metal or otherwise, but even early 20th century Lionel drivers (the largest wheels) could crumble over time (like my Dad's).  Lionel eventually figured this out and stable pot metal alloys were configured - and replacement wheels on early toy trains (if done right) is Kosher for most collectors.

 

  These anchors, however, are 'toast'.

[Dr PR]

Hey, isn't CA supposed to be able to fix anything?

 

OK, so the anchors bit the dust. Now what? I have been looking for the formula for calculating the size of a ship's anchors. Most references say nothing more than that a ship had an anchor, and several more of several sizes. Occasionally an author does say how large an anchor is on a particular ship, but in totally obscure terms. For example, Roding says:

 

"... the weight of large ships anchors is equal to the square of the ship's breadth ..."

 

And he goes on to give an example:

 

"The sheet anchor of a ship which has a breadth of 49 French ft and of which the weight is 7653 Livres ... for a ship of 20 feet breadth. 49²:20² = 7653 Livres : x Livres = 1331 Livres."

 

French feet (1.06 English feet), Livres (489 grams), Livres x Livres??? That's as clear as mud!

 

Marquardt's The Global Schooner is the only reference I could find with meaningful dimensions for anchors, and that is not simple. In England in the 1800s the anchor weight is the ship's tonnage divided by 20 in cwt. CWT? 1 cwt = 50.8 kg = 112 pounds (today's weights).

 

But that is only for ships, and if you have read many texts small vessels like schooners really are not ships and not worth mentioning.

 

Marquardt does give this guidance for smaller vessels based upon a table by anchor manufacturer Young and Thompson at Sutherland, England (my calculations for anchor weight):

 

Vessel weight tons    Tonnage divided by    Anchor weight English tons

5-15                                10                               0.5-1.5

25                                   12.5                            2

40                                   13.33                         3

60                                   17                               3.5

100                                 19                               5.26

>100                               20

 

The AL model does appear to be based on the 1815 revenue cutter designs of William Doughty. But he designed vessels of 30, 51 and 80 tons, all with about the same deck layout and proportions. So which was it? Let's assume it was the 80 ton design (which is similar to the revenue cutter kitbash I am making). The 80 ton Dallas revenue cutter of 1816 was 69' 6" length and 19' 6" beam (Chapelle The History of American Sailing Ships, 1985, page 192, 194). So it would have an anchor between 3.5 to 5.26 tons. The average is 4.4 tons. But how large is that, and what scale was an old Artesiana Latina Dallas kit (if any)?

 

Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models (1989, page 184) gives example of bower anchors (what the ship would have it if had only one or two, but some ships had three or four different size anchors) in cwt. CWT (hundred weight  - C for 100 in Roman numerals) = 100 modern American pounds, but it was 112 English pounds in the 1800s. There are 20 cwt in a ton, both British and American.

 

So a 4.4 ton anchor weighed 88 cwt.

 

But Mondfeld says an 80 cwt bower anchor is what a 100-110 gun ship of the line would carry, and schooners were just a fraction of that size!

 

PUNT!

This is typical of the quagmire I run into every time I try to figure out any dimensions for historic ships! Any two authors rarely agree on anything, and each uses his own calculations and speaks his own language (with no glossary)! Nothing is simple!!!

 

****

 

Let's try again. Marquardt says a schooner's anchor dimensions are:

 

shank length =     4/10 of a ship's breadth

shank width =      1/27 to 1/24 shank length

 

So with the 80 ton Dallas' beam of 19' 6" (234 inches) the shank length would be 93.6 inches or 7.8 feet (2377 mm). At 1:48 scale that would be an anchor with a shank 1.95 inches (49.5 mm).

 

Amazingly, the kit anchor with my 1980s Mantua Albatross kit has a shank length of 1.94 inches (49.3 mm)! Mantua has sold it as 1:40 scale but I am building it at 1:48, with a beam of 19 feet (5.8 meters), so the kit anchors are just right!

Edited September 7 by Dr PR

[Roger Pellett]

I had some time this evening to do a little research about your anchor problem:

 

I.  Pattern:  Anchors with folding metal stocks were used in the early 1800’s especially for kedging.  The photo below reproduced in the book Anchors, An Illustrated History shows one such anchor recovered in Tahiti from one of Captain Cook’s ships that grounded there in 1773.  It weighs approximately 950#

 

II Weight:  Much harder to answer.  Harland gives a number of formula not all make much sense and results must be translated into dimensions.  He points out that logically that the length of the shank should not exceed the dimension waterline to Cathead.

 

Keep in mind, these are small vessels in reality large boats.  I would suggest a pattern like my photo with stock folded lashed securely to ring bolts in deck.

 

Roger

 

 

 

[Dr PR]

Roger,

 

Thanks! Cook's 1773 folding anchor certainly predates Steve's revenue cutter. And clearly they came into use before the 1770s - at least for small anchors.

[SteveA]

I really appreciate this discussion, very informative!  So following the recommendations, I need to look for an iron folding anchor with a shank length around 50 mm.  The anchor will be lashed to ring bolts added to the deck.  

 

I just received a used copy of The History of American Sailing Ships by Chapelle today.  It does look like the AL Dallas kit was based on the 80-ton Doughty design shown in Figure 32.  Chapelle speculated that the Dallas and her sister ship Surprise were of the 80 ton variety.