How Does a Small Anchor Hold an Aircraft Carrier?

Whether it is an aircraft carrier, a warship or a giant ship, the principle of the anchor fixing is the same. This is similar to a fishhook. You can imagine that a small fisher bone weighing about 0.2 grams can catch 2 kilograms of fish, is it just done by the hook itself? Obviously not, because the hook is hooked into the fish, the fish has a lot of resistance and pull on the hook, and the fish is caught. The anchor has anchor claws, and after the anchor bottoms, the anchor claw will bite into the soil under the tension of the anchor chain and gravity. The resistance of the soil to the anchor will fix the anchor. When the ship is anchored, not only the anchor acts, but also the anchor chain is very important. The total weight of the anchor chain is much larger than the anchor. When anchoring, the length of the anchor chain is several times that of the water depth. After the anchor, there is a long anchor chain lying on the bottom of the water. The bottom of the water also has a large frictional resistance to the anchor chain.

The anchor chain not only transmits the pulling force of the anchor, but also plays the role of absorbing the dynamic load of the hull and balancing the external force of the ship. When the ship is blown by the wind or waves away from the anchoring point, the chain will be tightened. The original anchor chain will be pulled up and stretched, and the weight of the chain itself will also fall, countering the tension and giving the boat. A “pull back” force. The heavier the anchor chain, the greater the inertia and the stronger the ability to resist external loads. The longer and heavier the anchor chain, the shallower the water and the greater the pulling force. Of course, sometimes when the wind is particularly large, the pulling force will not be enough, and it will be dragging. At this time, you should enter the port or shelter the navigation area to avoid the wind. 

People who have watched the Pirates of the Caribbean must ask, in order not to enter the death triangle, the Black Pearl has quickly dropped the anchor into the sea to make a quick turn. The sea is so deep, may the anchor chain be so long? 

After all, science fiction movies are just science fiction movies. It is meaningless to stop the ship in deep water first. The ship stop is usually the anchorage and dock before entering the port. The anchorage water is relatively shallow, generally relying on anchoring and mooring, and the way of docking the dock is to carry the cable (the bow cable and the stern cable). If the deep water area wants to stabilize the ship’s attitude, it can only rely on the engine to retreat the propeller top flow direction. Some ships have good maneuverability, and there are also bow thruster, stern thruster and other side thruster. 

If you stop the boat in the Mariana Trench, you need more than 10,000 meters of chain, do you think it is possible? Before the anchoring, the captain can know the depth of the sea in the anchor zone, which is generally not too deep. The ship determines the length of the anchor chain according to the depth of the seawater. If you have to stop the ship in the deep sea area, there is no need to anchor and you can float. Use the stern main propeller and the bow side thrust to achieve the maneuvering of the ship! 

If you unfortunately hook the rock during the anchoring process and can’t pull it up, you can only abandon the anchor and go, but generally this does not happen, because the radar is used to determine the seabed before anchoring, even so, Every year, the sea liner loses the anchor for some special reasons!

If you drop the hook when you hit the anchor, what should you do? This situation generally does not happen, but it does not rule out the possibility. Generally, first throw three to four anchor chains to stop the cat chain, observe whether there is a rebound after the anchor chain is tightened to determine whether to hook the bottom of the sea and then send the anchor chain to increase the friction between the anchor chain and the seabed, if not hooked The bottom of the sea will be anchored again. 

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Annette X.//SMC Editor

Guest contributors are welcome at the Alloy Wiki.It is a weekly wiki and guide on alloy information and processing technology, while also about the vast array of opportunities that are present in manufacturing. Our team of writers consists of a Machining Material Supplier / Machinist / Tool and Die Maker, a Biomedical Engineer / Product Development Engineer, a Job Development Coordinator / Adjunct Professor, and a President and CEO of a manufacturing facility.