Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 127, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1904 — HISTORY OF THE ANCHOR. [ARTICLE]

HISTORY OF THE ANCHOR.

.. Varteaa Jlkat Hmc . . v «. Amu' Made .lie lt» Shape.. - Tte?g|4ig»’.anchors in general of the last orntury ' shaft, straight arms or flukes, inclined to the shank at an angle of about 40 degrees and meeting it in a somewhat sharp point at the crown. In large anchors the bulky wooden stock was built up of several pieces, hooped together, the whole tapering outward to the ends, especially on the aft or cable side. About the beginning of tlie last century a clerk in the Plymouth naval yard, Pering by name, suggested certain improvements, the most important of which was making the arms curved instead of straight At first sight this simple change may seem of little value, but consideration will show that this is not the case. The bolding power of an anchor depends on two principal conditions—namely, the extent off useful holding surface and the amount of vertical penetration. The latter quality is necessary on account of the na* ture of ordinary sea bottoms, the surface layers of which are generally less tenacious and resisting than is the ground a short distance below. In the yei||. 1831 chain cables began to supersede the hempen ones, with the result that the long shanked anchors hitherto in vogue were no longer necessary, and anchors with shorter shanks and with heavier and stronger crowns gradually came into use. In consequence of these changes a cfom-i mission wns appointed In the year 1838 to Inquire into the holding power of anchors, and a principal result of its labors was the adoption of the so called admiralty pattern anchor, which continued to be used in the navy up to the year 1860. The invention of the steam hammer in 1842 made the welding of heavy masses of iron a comparatively easy and reliable process, so that from this time onward the strength of anchors fully kept pace with that of the chain cables which had come into general use. A number of patents for anchors were taken out prior to the great exhibition of 1851, and, public attention having been called to the models there shown, in the following year a committee was appointed by the admiralty to report on the qualifications of anchors of the various kinds. Practical trials then instituted, and as a result Trotman’s anchor took the highest place, Rodger’s anchor being second on the list. Some of the tests to which the anchors were submitted, »'were of doubtful value, such, for instance, as “facility for sweeping.” Nowadays, however, at all events for deep ships in shallow harbors, it is considered an advantage for an anchor to offer as little obstruction as possible above the ground.—Science Siftings.