Anchor: Encyclopedia II - Anchor - Development

Anchor - Development

The earliest anchors were probably rocks and many rock anchors have been found dating from at least the Bronze Age. Many modern moorings still rely on a large rock as the primary element of their design. It simply works. However, using pure mass to resist the forces of a storm only works well as a permanent mooring; trying to move a large enough rock to another bay is nearly impossible.

A simple anchor using a pair of wood arms under a rock mass is a primitive anchor which is still in use today. The wood arms are pointed to penetrate the bottom, and the mass will overcome normal movement forces. Together they comprise what may have been the first successful attempts to hook into the seabed and use the strength there to prevent a vessel from moving. Almost all future anchor developments combine these two elements—a penetrating point and a reasonable mass.

In the western world the vast majority of anchors worked on the concept of the grappling hook—multiple points on arms such that at least one will be aimed toward the bottom. Suddenly the concept of the stock, a bar placed perpendicular to the hooking arm at the other end of the shank which would roll the anchor over so the point would penetrate the bottom, was developed and within a single century became the standard anchor type.

In the East, however, another model of anchor had been known for some time which also used a stock, but with the stock located at the crown along with the arm. This successful model is still built today in virtually unchanged form. It also informed such modern designs as the US Navy's stockless Mark IV and the fluke-style anchor.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Development", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki