Now *that* would be stupid.

Post #425,224 by drook 8/23/18 7:47:51 PM 8/23/18 7:47:51 PM Reply	Now that would be stupid. Imagine what would happen when several dozen tons of steel dropping at terminal velocity reaches the end. You'd have a lost chain and a busted winch. -- Drew
Post #425,228 by Andrew Grygus 8/24/18 1:07:04 AM 8/24/18 1:07:04 AM Reply	Better tell that to the Navy. As told by an old friend of mine, who was in charge of the bow AA gun tubs on a heavy cruiser. The captain checked and was told there were no Japanese ships anywhere near. They anchored to blow the tubes on one of their boilers. The other boilers were kept at full pressure just in case. A Japanese cruiser hove into sight. Ray heard the captain on page, "Let go the bitter end!". Ray yelled to his gun crews, "Grab as much ammunition as you can carry, and run aft as fast as you can go!" The ship backed off the chain at full power. The whipping chain wiped the deck clean of anything forward of the winches. Of course, the captain of a heavy cruiser would probably check the depth before dropping anchor. That's the real "stupid" of that video.
Post #425,229 by drook 8/24/18 7:28:59 AM 8/24/18 7:28:59 AM Reply	I think that agrees with my point You said the chain should have been attached. I said that would take the winch with it. Your story sure sounds like the chain wasn't attached. No? -- Drew
Post #425,233 by Andrew Grygus 8/24/18 11:13:32 AM 8/24/18 11:13:32 AM Reply	Not so. The command was, "Let go the bitter end". That means unshackle it from the ship. The bitter end is secured to a strong structure in the chain locker, not to the winch.
Post #425,234 by drook 8/24/18 11:32:51 AM 8/24/18 11:32:51 AM Reply	I thought it just meant to let it unwind That's got to be one hell of a mechanism, as I assume it's only used in emergencies and needs to be a quick-release. -- Drew
Post #425,236 by Andrew Grygus 8/24/18 12:36:04 PM 8/24/18 12:36:04 PM Reply	Actually, it's probably not strong enough . . . . . to stop a free falling anchor, it'd be there to stop a drifting ship from pulling off its chain. An anchor should never be dropped unless you know how deep the water is. This you can get from your charts.
Post #425,243 by boxley 8/24/18 3:25:32 PM 8/24/18 3:25:32 PM Reply	You ever hear of a sea anchor? No bottom required "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #425,249 by Andrew Grygus 8/25/18 11:03:52 AM 8/25/18 11:03:52 AM Reply	Re: You ever hear of a sea anchor? No bottom required Yes, but that just keeps the wind from blowing you away - the sea anchor pulls you in whatever direction the water is flowing. If the water is heading for the rocks, you'd better have good danforth on a chain.

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