Deck machinery and ground tackle

NAVEDTRA 14067 §4-3

Ground tackle and anchoring from the deck Ground tackle is the anchor, chain, and associated gear a ship uses to anchor. On the forecastle the chain leads from the chain locker up through the spurling pipe, over the wildcat of the anchor windlass, through the hawsepipe, and out to the stockless anchor stowed in the hawsepipe. Holding the anchor and chain when not heaving are the brake on the wildcat and, more securely, a chain stopper — a pelican hook or riding pawl that takes the strain off the windlass while the ship rides to her anchor. Anchor chain is made up in shots (15 fathoms, 90 feet, each), joined by detachable links, and marked by a paint-and-wire color code at each shot so the crew can call how much chain is out as it runs. Anchoring: with the anchor walked out clear of the ha…

NAVEDTRA 14104 Ch. 10 — Anchor Windlasses

In a typical electrohydraulic mechanism, one c o n s t a n t - s p e e d e l e c t r i c m o t o r d r i v e s t w o variable-stroke pumps through a coupling and reduction gear. Other installations include two motors, one for driving each pump. Each pump normally drives one wildcat. However, if you use a three-way plug cock-type valve, either pump may drive either of the two wildcats. The hydraulic motors drive the wildcat shafts with a multiple-spur gearing and a locking head. The locking head allows you to disconnect the wildcat shaft and permits free operation of the wildcat, as when dropping anchor. Each windlass pump is controlled either from the weather deck or locally. The controls are handwheels on shafting that lead to the pump control. The hydraulic system requires your attention…

NAVEDTRA 14104 Ch. 10 — Capstans

The terms capstan and winch should not be confused. A winch has a horizontal shaft and a capstan has a vertical shaft. The type of capstan installed aboard ship depends on the load requirements and type of power available. In general, a capstan consists of a single head mounted on a vertical shaft, reduction gearing, and a power source. The types, classified according to power source, are electric and steam. Electric capstans are usually of the reversible type. They develop the same speed and power in either direction. Capstans driven by ac motors run at either full, one-half, or one-third speed. Capstans driven by dc motors usually have from three to five speeds in either direction of rotation. Figure 10-39.—Electrohydraulic winch units. Figure 10-40.—Electric winch. Maintenance of Winc…

NAVEDTRA 14343 §4-1

Ground tackle components — anchors, chain, and appendages Ground tackle is the equipment used in anchoring and mooring: the anchor, anchor chain (cable), connecting fittings, and the machinery that handles them. The stockless anchor is standard on most vessels because its crown and pivoting flukes let it stow snugly in the hawsepipe. When the anchor is let go and the ship drags astern, the flukes trip downward and dig into the bottom; holding power comes from the flukes biting the ground, not from the anchor's weight alone. Older patterns include the old-fashioned (stock) anchor and the lightweight (Danforth) type with large pivoting flukes and high holding-power-to-weight ratio. Anchor chain is measured in shots, each shot being 15 fathoms (90 feet). Shots are joined by detachable links …

NAVEDTRA 14343 §4-3

Anchor windlass and wildcat operation (deck machinery) The anchor windlass is the deck machine that heaves in and pays out the anchor chain and holds the anchor at the hawsepipe. Its principal parts are the wildcat (a notched, sprocket-like drum whose pockets, or whelps, are shaped to grip each link of chain), the wildcat clutch (or locking head) that connects the wildcat to the drive shaft, the brake band that controls the wildcat when it is declutched, and the prime mover (electric, hydraulic, or steam). Most windlasses also carry gypsy heads (warping heads) on the shaft ends for handling mooring lines. To let go the anchor: with the wildcat declutched and the brake holding, the riding pawl or devil's claw and any chain stopper are removed, then the brake is eased and the anchor runs ou…

NAVEDTRA 14343 §8-3

Standing and running rigging; fittings Rigging is divided into standing rigging — the fixed wires that support masts, kingposts, and booms (stays, shrouds, guys, and pendants) — and running rigging, the ropes and wires that move over sheaves to do work (falls, halyards, cargo runners, topping lifts). Standing rigging is set up taut and secured with fittings and adjusted by turnbuckles. Common rigging fittings and their uses: shackles (U-shaped connectors closed by a pin) join lines and gear — anchor/bow shackles for round loads, chain/ D-shackles for in-line pulls; a thimble is a grooved metal eye spliced or swaged into a rope's eye to protect it from chafe at the connection; a turnbuckle (rigging screw) has right- and left-hand threaded eyes so turning the body tensions or slackens a sta…