In its early days the Port Arthur Ship Canal was extremely narrow and shallow, and in those days the maneuverability of ships in general was much inferior to what it is today. The result was that vessels very often—to quote the then commonly used expression—“acted as though they had no rudder at all.” It was a very frequent occurrence for bad handling ships, especially when loaded, to sheer from bank to bank, and even the best handling ships could be kept steady only when directly in the middle of the canal. Therefore according to the old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention,” from “necessity” the use of anchors was resorted to for the sake of keeping ships under control—especially when meeting one another in a narrow channel.
The passing of sailing ships has made the expert handling of them almost a “lost art.” Likewise the deepening and widening of inland waterways that are used by ocean vessels has made the use of anchors less of a necessity. However in narrow waterways, where the bottom is soft mud and free from obstructions, the expert use of anchors will always be a valuable aid in maneuvering and it would indeed be a great misfortune to shipping if it became a “lost art.”
It is my opinion—gained both from observation and experience—that anchors have on innumerable occasions made it possible to handle ships safely when they otherwise would have met with very serious accidents. I will therefore discuss the following situations:
When one vessel is about to meet another vessel in a narrow channel (Situations 1,3, & 9).
To drop an anchor for the purpose of breaking a sheer (Situation 2).
Ships “smelling the banks” (Situations 3 & 5B).
To get a ship safely anchored when she has a strong fair tide (Situation 4).
After a ship has been “jacked” on her anchor, to get under way again (Situation 5).
The use of an anchor in making turns (Situation 6).
A tug towing a ship stern first (Situation 7).
Ways an anchor can be helpful in docking (Situation 8).
When the channel is obstructed (Situation 10).
A ship can be kept afloat with a minimum amount of headway (Situation 10B).
Situation I
It is always considered a serious undertaking, when a ship has headway, to drop an anchor; pay out a scope of chain; and then hold it, intending to drag it along the bottom. When one vessel is about to meet another vessel in a narrow channel, and this is advocated, it is considered so hazardous that shipmasters—who are unfamiliar with such a procedure—are invariably reluctant to consent to having it done. Their reluctance is well grounded; because, if the officer on the forecastlehead does not do just exactly right, a serious mishap—caused by the anchor holding instead of dragging on the bottom—is likely to ensue. Nevertheless, if the anchor is dropped just right, the chance of a mishap is so slight that it is entirely offset by the almost absolutely perfect control that a ship can be put under contrasted with the possibility of her otherwise being almost, if not completely, out of control. How to accomplish these desired results will be subsequently covered.
Situation II
No doubt almost all pilots and towboat men, whose job it is to handle ships in close quarters with strange crews, have on occasions been seriously handicapped and sometimes made helpless simply because they could not get their orders properly executed, owing to the fact that local conditions required some procedure that was entirely unfamiliar to the crew; and furthermore, if the facts could be known, men handling ships under such conditions no doubt have deliberately allowed accidents to happen for fear of having more serious ones simply because they felt certain they could not get their orders properly executed. Probably in no better way could this state of affairs be illustrated than in the need to drop an anchor for the purpose of breaking a sheer in order to avoid a collision with a ship that is being met. It should be done as follows:
(a) If possible have the bar in the brake wheel. When the order is given to let go, release the brake sufficiently to allow the chain to run freely over the wildcat. The anchor will hit the bottom so suddenly that several fathoms of slack will come in the chain and it will then, of its own accord, for a few moments stop paying out. At this instant the brake must be set up not just hand tight—but as tight as possible with the use of the brake bar and not just the weight of one man on the bar but an extra man or two. Believe it or not (to use Ripley’s expression) even though the ship has considerable headway, the brake can be securely set before the chain gets a heavy strain on it. Then when the strain does come the anchor, instead of holding, is jerked out of the mud and because the chain is so near up and down, the anchor will drag along the bottom without getting a good hold.
(b) Now, when a ship is just starting to take a sheer, if the anchor is dropped and given just this short scope of chain, it will almost invariably break the sheer. And even though it doesn’t it will retard the sheer sufficiently to allow the other vessel time to get safely past.
(c) The thought that is now apt to be in the reader’s mind is: Why not go full speed astern? The answer is: with a right- handed single screw ship sheering away from her own starboard hand bank—if backed— at first will almost certainly act as though she has a left-handed propeller; furthermore, during the time the propeller is motionless, while the engine is being put in astern motion, the effectiveness of the rudder is almost entirely lost thereby causing the sheer to greatly increase. Even with an outboard turning twin screw ship when she takes a sheer away from the bank and the propeller nearest the bank is backed the effect, at least at first, quite often is to increase the sheer instead of breaking it.
(d) An anchor should be used in the above manner if a ship unexpectedly takes a sheer when she is so close to the vessel she is meeting that there is not time to take any further action.
Situation III
Next let us suppose the Ship—while she has the channel to herself—is “smelling the banks” to such an extent that it is quite evident she cannot be held on her side in passing an approaching vessel.
(a) First, of course, reduce the speed as much as possible. Then drop the anchor2 in the above described manner.3 Drag the anchor over the bottom for some distance. This should be done for several reasons. The flukes, after a while, get balled up with mud which keeps them from getting too much of a hold on the bottom. After this has occurred the chain can be slacked out and then held—but only with reasonable certainty—if it is properly done. The proper procedure is to slack only from a few links to about a fathom and set not just hand tight but, again, as tight as two or three men can do with the bar. This action always causes one and generally causes two things to happen. It is certain that the friction on the brake band, when the chain is stopped, always causes it to get at least slightly hot. And it generally happens that the sudden jerk on the anchor causes the balled up mud on the flukes to come off with the result that it takes a firmer grip on the bottom. After being dragged along, the flukes will generally again become packed with mud and thereby ease the strain on the chain; and in the meantime the brake band will get cooled off and thereby lessen the danger of its not holding. Two questions are now probably running through the reader’s mind.
(b) First, why not stop the ship if she is steering so poorly? The answer is: If a loaded ship is behaving so badly it takes a long time, and even then it is extremely difficult, to get her completely stopped except by using an anchor. If the anchor is not used in stopping her there is a strong likelihood of her striking the bank or getting “jacked” (crosswise in the channel). And in the case of a light ship with a strong beam wind she will most surely blow against the bank and will then probably not be able to get under way again.
(c) Second, the reader is apt to wonder how it can be known what the condition of the anchor is while it is on the bottom. Of course, there is no way to tell absolutely what the condition of the anchor is but “mud pilots” do know that sometimes when dragging an anchor with, say, 15 fathoms of chain, it will hold well for a while and then all of a sudden will give the impression that the anchor has become unshackled. It sometimes happens, when this occurs, that 30 or more fathoms of chain can be paid out without having as much effect as the 15 fathoms originally had.
(d) Another thing to substantiate the opinion that the flukes become balled up with mud is that, after the anchor has been dragged, when it is hove up it is almost always in that condition.
(e) With a little time and patience sufficient chain can be paid out to kill the ship’s headway—if it is deemed necessary —even with the engine working ahead slow at intervals or continuously. If enough chain has been paid out to prevent the ship from ranging ahead with the engine working slow, then if it is desired to make her gather headway it can be done by working full ahead. Under these circumstances even an extremely bad handling ship improves to the extent that she is under practically as effective control as an automobile on a paved street, because she can be held in almost any position for an indefinite length of time, can be made to answer her helm without gathering headway, and can be stopped by simply stopping the engine; and almost, if not exactly, the instant the engine is put in reverse motion the ship starts gathering sternway.
Situation IV
(a) Let us now consider the most difficult as well as the most dangerous thing to do. It is: To get a ship safely anchored when she has a strong fair tide and is in a channel that is too narrow for her to swing around in, and where the banks are so nearly straight up and down that a vessel can land and lie against them somewhat similar to lying against a dock.
(b) To make the illustration clear, assume that the ship has a right-handed propeller and is in a straight reach of a canal. First get the ship almost but not quite dead in the water and also have her not in the middle but as near the starboard hand bank as is possible without her wanting, too much, to run away from it. (The slower she goes the nearer she can be held to the bank.) When this has been accomplished and she is steady and parallel with the bank drop the port anchor in the manner previously described.4 In spite of the fact that the intention is to bring the ship to anchor, paradoxically, the anchor must not hold on the bottom but must drag.
(c) It has just been stated that the ship should be almost but not quite dead in the water when the anchor is dropped. The reason for this is: if the ship does not have a little headway when the anchor takes the bottom it is difficult to keep her “stern to” to the current. However, she must be kept in this position which also means (in this particular case) parallel to the bank. Little by little, slack on the chain till there is out about 15 fathoms in the water (the exact scope being the very least that will have the required effect). By the time this has been accomplished the ship should still be close to the starboard bank (but if not she must be maneuvered into that position) and probably will be ranging ahead over the bottom but making a little sternway in the water. By this time the anchor will probably have balled up with mud so as not to hold too much and the ship can be “felt out” to see just how she will act.
(d) If time will permit—the safest way to get the anchor down is to heave it out; after it is on the bottom, then in heaving out chain be governed by the aforesaid comments.5 And of course keep the brake set when the anchor is not being hove.
(e) Holding a ship “stern to” to the current with the anchor down is somewhat similar to the manner in which a man keeps the end of a pole balanced in the palm of his hand. He must move his hand one way and then the other to offset the effect of gravity. The anchor acts on the ship in the same manner, to the extent that it holds her bow—which corresponds to the lower end of the pole—but since the anchor can’t be moved about to offset the effect of the current (which is the same to the ship as gravity is to the pole) being first on one side and then on the other— this is accomplished by the use of the propeller and rudder.
(f) With the necessary amount of chain out the ship is ready to be put to anchor. Give her a kick ahead on a full left rudder. Stop her when she answers. She will now have the current on the port quarter which will set her stern towards the bank. If judgment has been accurate a number of things will have been accomplished. The ship will be almost—but not quite— parallel to the bank, she will have lost her headway over the bottom, the strain on the chain will be eased and she will be setting bodily towards the bank, and will fetch up against it with her starboard quarter. The quarter will have a tendency to stick to the bank which will make it possible for the ship to be held by the anchor in spite of the fact that it is probably balled up with mud and there is only a little chain out.
(g) To account for the ship being put against the starboard bank and the port anchor being used: I will ask that the reader visualize how after the ship was given a kick ahead on a left rudder—to get the current on the port side—the leverage caused by the bow being retarded would cause the stern to swing heavily towards the bank. Now the tendency to back to port will help to make it possible for the ship to land gently. After she has landed she will lie there when more nearly parallel (which—with reference to the rudder, propeller, etc.—is the safest position) with the port chain leading astern on the port side.
(h) Of course a great deal of this maneuvering can be done away with in “jacking” (as anchoring a ship in this position is called) but only by greatly increasing the likelihood of doing damage to the most delicate as well as the most essential, exposed part of the hull, i.e., the stem frame, rudder, and propeller.
Situation V
We will now assume that after the ship has been “jacked” on her anchor we want to get under way again. Maybe it will be an easy job. A number of things have been done to make it so. Let us recount and comment on them.
(a) First, with the ship alongside the starboard bank, there will be a clear lead on the port chain whereas the starboard chain and anchor would lead under the ship.
(b) Next, the very least possible scope of chain was let out in hopes of being able to heave it home. If it can be hove home, after that has been done, it might seem that there was nothing to do but “hook her up” and go ahead. Instead caution should be used in getting the ship away from the bank and into the middle of the canal. She should be worked ahead (and under almost all circumstances just slow). In all probability her head will swing to port even though the rudder is put full right; if she does this having been anchored on the starboard bank is a big asset, because after her bow has headed out till it is about in the middle of the canal, by backing a little—before she has gathered enough headway to cause her to “smell the bank” too much—she should back to port and throw her stern towards the middle of the canal. Since her bow has gotten out there already, simply come ahead and steady her up.
(c) Now suppose the anchor can’t be hove home. With the ship practically parallel to the bank, when she is backed the suction from the bank on the starboard quarter should just about offset the pitch of the wheel and cause her to back straight, thereby getting the chain up and down so the anchor can be hove home.
(d) But suppose the anchor can’t be hove up and she won’t go astern (two quite common conditions). Here is where the importance of having a short scope of chain comes in. The anchor can be dragged6 by working the ship ahead until she can be maneuvered into the middle of the canal. Then by skillful handling she can be backed straight astern sufficiently to get the anchor up. The port anchor leading astern on the port side makes it much easier to back a right- handed ship straight than would be the case if it were the starboard anchor leading astern on the starboard side.
Situation VI
Next will be taken up the use of an anchor in making turns that are so sharp they cannot be made by simply putting the rudder hard over.
I will refer to a particular section of the waterway where I am a pilot and tell what was, before the channel was widened and deepened, the only way the swing could be made with a deep loaded ship.
(a) Think of the capital letter L upside down and you have a mental picture of the waterway at this point. All along the base of the L is a dock. It might be well to emphasize that this is a right-angle turn and furthermore that it is on a left rudder which makes it the most difficult for a right-handed single screw ship.
Before approaching this turn the port anchor will be dropped and little by little given chain till the scope that has been paid out is sufficient to almost stop the ship’s headway with the engine working slow ahead. This will generally be somewhere between 15 and 30 fathoms. The anchor must be dropped soon enough to get the necessary amount of chain out and have the ship all but stopped just before she is at the point where the swing must be made. If in handling the ship it has been found that she is unusually sluggish on her rudder then at this particular time stop the engine and at the same instant slack out 2 or 3 fathoms of chain. When she brings up on the chain it will snub her and stop her. Now go slow ahead and in the meantime the rudder will have been put full left. The anchor chain is now being used in about the same fashion as a spring line is used in bringing a ship around the corner of a dock and into a slip.
Situation VII
The next situation is that of a tug towing a ship stern first; and because it requires the most precise use of anchors, consider the ship to be a light single screw tanker, about 500 feet in length, drawing roughly 3 feet forward and 16 feet aft. Have a strong beam wind blowing. Let the tide be slack. Imagine the waterway to be about 400 feet in width and the distance the ship has to be towed astern to be approximately 2,000 feet. The ship has the use of her main engine.
(a) In getting ready to start the ship astern the tug will first be given a stem line and will—heading in the opposite direction to the ship—commence pulling. The weather anchor will be dropped as far to windward as possible. Now here is a case in which you want the anchor to hold, and you don’t want it to hold, both at the same time. And it can almost be made to do just that.
(b) It is desired that the anchor should keep the ship from drifting to leeward but at the same time allow her to go astern. In this instance it would be entirely wrong to drop the anchor just to the bottom and let it drag. Instead, when it is dropped it is necessary that a sufficient scope of chain be paid right out so that when it comes tight it will prevent the ship from going to leeward. This will be about 30 fathoms on the wildcat. If the anchor holds and the tug pulls astern, and to windward as much as possible, in a little while the chain will be leading almost directly ahead. Let us presume when the chain leads thus and has a strain on it, that the tug’s power alone will not be sufficient to make the anchor drag.
(c) Right here is a good place to explain the knack of making the anchor drag astern but not drag to leeward. As has just been stated, the first requirement is that there be sufficient chain out to keep the wind alone from making her drag the anchor. The other secret is to go very slowly. In dragging our tanker astern we will keep these two things in mind.
(d) Now the position of the tug is just a trifle to windward of directly astern and she is pulling full speed. The anchor chain is leading a trifle to windward of directly ahead and has a heavy strain on it. The ship is lying motionless. In order to make her start astern we signal slow astern on the engine. The engine works astern but no results. So we go half astern. Still no results. The anchor must have a good hold. So full speed astern. The ship starts gathering sternway so we change the engine to slow astern; however her stern way increases instead of lessening and we also regret to note that her bow is going rapidly to leeward. We stop the engine and immediately slack the chain till there is 30 fathoms in the water. This stops her bow from falling off but when the chain leads ahead again—then the tug is unable to pull the ship astern. So slow astern on the ship’s engine. This time slow astern gets the same results that full astern did the previous time.7 The engine is stopped. But the ship is not only still going astern but her bow is going to leeward, so the chain is paid out till there is 45 fathoms on the windlass. This stops her from going to leeward but also from going astern. Slow astern on the engine. No results. Half astern. Now she gathers a little sternway, but also her bow goes to leeward. Stop her again. She soon becomes dead in the water. It is not advisable to pay out much, if any, more chain because if the anchor should get well settled on the bottom it could not be dragged any more. Therefore drop the other, or lee, anchor on the bottom and let it have only a fathom or two of slack chain. This second anchor so used is surprisingly effective in preventing the bow from going to leeward but has a negligible effect in retarding the ship’s sternway. Now go astern on the engine at whatever speed necessary to make the ship get sternway but be quick to stop whenever she gathers speed.
(e) By maneuvering in the above manner a ship can almost always be towed the necessary distance astern before her bow gets too far down to leeward, and if she does drift into something it will be so gently that no damage should be done.
Situation VIII
Let us consider some of the ways an anchor can be helpful in docking:
(a) In the first hypothetical case we will make a starboard side landing with a single screw right-handed ship, loaded so deep she is “smelling the bottom” and therefore taking a lot of rudder to make her answer with the engine working slow ahead. She will not answer at all with the engine stopped. While still a good distance from the dock drop the port anchor and little by little give her almost enough chain to stop her with the engine working slow ahead. This will entirely eliminate the likelihood of having too much headway when getting close to the dock and also avoid the danger of hitting the dock when, and if 8, she is backed for the purpose of stopping.
(b) The reader is quite likely to be thinking: The anchor is apt to damage or go through the ship’s bottom. Although this could happen, it is a remote probability if the bottom is soft mud and (it might be well to emphasize) if the anchor is dropped in the aforesaid manner,9 because: (1) the anchor buries itself in the mud; (2) the flukes and crown become balled up with mud; (3) the shank and flukes will not point in the direction which would be necessary to cause them to penetrate. However the anchor can and very often does do serious damage if—when it is dropped—a great deal of chain is paid right out. There are two distinct reasons: (1) By giving too much slack the chain can get foul of the flukes and thereby prevent the anchor from leading properly when it starts to drag. (2) If given too much chain the anchor—when it strikes—might lie on the bottom with the crown farthest ahead thus making the shank and shackle point aft. In either of these instances, when the strain does come on the chain, the result will be about the same as when a fishhook is backed out of the flesh.
Dropping an anchor is considered so extremely simple that very little if any thought is ever given to doing it properly. Therefore when a mishap occurs it is thought of as being unavoidable, whereas in many cases damage could have been prevented if the anchor had been handled properly.
(c) In the next hypothetical case let us go to the other extreme and assume we have a ship in ballast or (to use the coined expression) “flying light,” with a very strong beam wind blowing on the dock. The dock is parallel to the channel, slack tide. In plenty of time before nearing the dock drop the lee anchor and little by little “feel” her out till satisfied she has ample chain.
(d) It might be well to go into detail as to what is “ample chain.” The stronger the wind, the more the chain has to be paid out; and incidentally the stronger the engine must be worked. The ultimate purpose is to have the anchor hold the bow up against the wind, and lee rudder hold the stern sufficiently up to windward. Under this kind of control a ship can be barely making headway and still make practically no leeway. The ship is now in such shape that she can be worked right up alongside the dock slow enough to get lines out, both fore and aft, before ever stopping the propeller.
(e) Now let us consider the same ship landing at the same dock under the same conditions, except that the wind is blowing heavy off the dock. The same procedure would be carried out. Of course the opposite anchor would be the lee anchor.
(f) Those who are unfamiliar with this maneuver almost invariably contend that, in both of the above cases, the weather anchor would be more effective in holding the bow up to windward, and conversely that the lee anchor would cause its chain to act as a spring line and consequently pull her head down to leeward.
(g) Ordinarily these viewpoints are correct, therefore let us try to find out what causes these improbabilities. But first this illustration or comparison: A doctor avoids as much as possible the use of narcotics because he is ever mindful that they can and sometimes do have disastrous consequences. Therefore one of the secrets of their successful use is that they be administered as sparingly as possible. Likewise a “mud pilot” is ever mindful of the serious difficulties that can be caused by dropping an anchor and not being able to hold it, so he avoids its use whenever possible; and one of the secrets of its successful use is that always the minimum scope of chain, to get the desired results, be paid out.
(h) It might be well to repeat that we are considering a light ship with a strong beam wind. Now before either anchor would be dropped the ship’s headway should be reduced to the minimum. This reduced speed will cause her to go to leeward almost as much as she goes ahead. Under these circumstances if the lee anchor is dropped it will not lead from the hawse pipe but from under the bottom of the ship, and toward the weather side. Therefore, with a very little chain, the anchor will have a great deal of effect, because leading from under the ship will make it more parallel with the bottom and therefore have a decided tendency to help the anchor dig into the mud and hold better.
(i) On the other hand if the weather anchor is dropped, the chain leads directly from the hawse pipe which necessitates considerable chain to keep the effect on the anchor from being just “up and down.”
(j) The lee anchor will hold with much less pressure on the brake band—under the above conditions—because the bight of the chain pressing so heavily against the side of the ship helps it to be held for the same reason that taking an extra turn on the bitts helps a line to hold.
(k) If it were desired simply to hold the bow up then the weather anchor would, in most if not all cases, be preferable. But the anchor is used not only to hold the bow but to help hold the entire ship broadside to the wind. When a ship is in this situation the major concern is to see that the rudder is able to hold her stern up to windward. Of course the most effective way to accomplish this is to go full speed ahead with full lee rudder. In the event the anchor only drags slightly—and incidentally that is what we want it to do—there is danger that full ahead on a full lee rudder will not work the stern up, so it is of utmost importance that full use has been made of everything else at our command. In this particular case that thing is the lee anchor. Let us see what it now does. (Keep in mind that the anchor is leading under the bottom and to windward.) When the ship is worked full ahead it causes her to go up to windward till the chain leads aft along the lee side. When this takes place the chain ceases to serve as a breast line and becomes (according to those who would question its use instead of the weather anchor) a spring line leading from the lee bow and is exceedingly effective in helping the rudder to twist (or swing) the after part of the ship up to windward.
(l) Now think—in contrast—what the weather anchor would do. It would act as a spring leading from the weather bow and would cause results exactly opposite to what we desperately need. It would help the wind to throw the stern still more to leeward.
Situation IX
Let us now revert to ships meeting and passing one another. A light ship making so much leeway—because of a strong beam wind—as to make it unsafe to meet and pass an approaching ship, can eliminate practically all danger by using the anchor as heretofore described.10
Situation X
The last situation exists when the channel is obstructed at a point some distance ahead and it is necessary to stop a light ship that is encountering a strong beam wind; and in stopping the ship still keep her afloat, or off the bank.
(a) A light ship with a strong beam wind in a narrow waterway is under conditions a great deal similar to those that confront an airplane in the air. As long as the airplane can keep sufficient headway she can stay aloft. When she loses headway she falls to the ground. As long as a light ship can keep headway she can keep from grounding. Let her lose headway and she falls against the bank.
(b) But to contradict myself: A light ship encountering a strong beam wind in a narrow waterway can under many conditions be kept afloat without making headway. When conditions such as a fair tide or an extremely strong beam wind make it impossible to completely stop, she can be kept afloat with a minimum amount of headway. This can be accomplished in a manner previously described.11
From one viewpoint, revealing these secrets could have the effect of giving away one’s patent rights. However, I take the view that if these facts are thoroughly understood by all deck officers it will make my job much easier as well as help me to avoid accidents.
As a speaker or actor can “feel” the reaction he is causing on his audience; likewise the pilot can “feel” the reaction on the ship’s officers that is caused by the way he is handling the ship. And there is nothing that makes a pilot’s job quite so difficult and disheartening as to know that he is doing the right thing and not have the officers’ co-operation and sympathy because they think he is doing things that are unnecessary or wrong.
Therefore, the goal of this article is to bring about a better understanding between ships’ officers and pilots, and thereby cause ships to be more efficiently handled.
1. This article was submitted in the Prize Essay Contest, 1942.
2. Sit. 4d
3. Sit. 2a.
4. Sit. 2a & 3a.
5. Ibid.
6. Site. 3e
7. Sit. 3c & 3d.
8. Sit. 3e
9. Sit. 2a & 4d
10. Sit. 2a & 3a
11. Sit. 2a, 3a, 3e, 4d, 4e, 8c, 8d, 8h, 8i, 8j, 8k, 81.