HMS Warrior (1860) - Raising the Anchor |
Anchor, port side - HMS Warrior: Photo © Peter Milford
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Raising the anchor onboard Warrior was a huge team effort - lifting the 5.6 Tonne anchor, the heaviest anchor to
be lifted by manual means alone. Anchors (Admiralty standard pattern stock and fluke anchor) were mounted port and starboard at the
bow and stern and were secured to wrought-iron chains passing through the anchor hawse pipe then along the maindeck to the chain
locker amidships.
The anchors could only be worked one at a time and were hauled in by means of the capstan - a linked device with capstan heads on both
the main and lower decks.
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Maindeck capstan, HMS Warrior: Photo © Peter Milford
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Each capstan had space for 100 men. In use the vertical stanchions were knocked out and clipped up to the deckhead. Capstan bars were inserted
into the slots in the capstan head and five men were placed along each bar. A messenger cable was wrapped around the capstan and taken
forward via rollers in a loop. Another 100 men would be stationed around the lower capstan and when the order was given, would push against
the bars, turning the capstan. The messenger cable was drawn in and paid out as the capstan slowly rotated.
Nippers were used to clip the messenger to the main anchor cable. As the messenger was drawn along, the anchor cable came with it,
eventually lifting the anchor. To lift the port anchor, the capstan was turned in an anti-clockwise direction, to lift the starboard the
direction was reversed to turn in a clockwise manner. The direction of the capstan was controlled by means of a pawl, a heavy
steel tooth which engaged in a ratchet. The pawl moved over the ratchet - but would drop in and stop if the capstan tried to turn backwards
under the weight of the anchor.
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Maindeck forward - Anchor and mooring chains: Photo © Peter Milford
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When the anchor was raised above the water, it was lifted to the cat-head and secured into place alongside the bow. The stock lay beneath
the cat-head and the fluke was lashed to the ship's side. The anchor is heavy - and coming loose could cause considerable damage. At the
forward end of the main deck the anchor chain was secured by a slip shackle connected to the strong iron bitts.
Lifting the anchor was a laborious process - and could take 4 to 5 hours of continuous hard work by the capstan crews.
When the anchor was to be lowered it, the lashings would be removed and it
would be allowed to hang vertically below the cat-head. When the order
Drop anchor! was given, the slip shackle would be released,
allowing the anchor chain to be paid out and the anchor to fall.
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Maindeck forward, looking aft - Anchor and mooring chains: Photo © Peter Milford
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Warrior is today secured by mooring chains - and the anchors are catted up to the ship's side. In service she would have used anchors at bow
and stern - lifting one by one. Raising anchors from a mooring could be a lengthy process, requiring much planning, time and effort.
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