I love the crescendo of noise followed by abrupt silence. That abrupt silence after something very expensive just happened is one of the worst and most memorable noises you’ll ever hear.
You can briefly see the hapless ensign slouching around after the dust clears. At least nobody was hurt as best we can see.
FYI - By my calcs the individual links are about 3 feet long and weight very roughly 500# apiece.
Question for the ship operators:
When the anchor is being raised properly the capstan pulls the chain upwards and feeds it down that deck hole into the chain storage area, whatever it’s properly called. If they’re just dumping it down into the center of a large room I can see it forming a pyramidal pile. As more chain is added the pile will slump and shift unpredictably. Which might lead to snags or tangles. Those would produce problems like we saw: the weight of the rode already paid out isn’t enough to pick a big tangle off the locker floor in one piece. But when the tangle spontaneously detangles under tension you’ve got the seeds of a runaway.
So what measures are taken to manage how the chain is arranged in the storage area so it can be retrieved later with no noisy expensive surprises? I’m having a hard time imagining such machinery, but I also have a hard time believing it’s just an unruly pile you hope won’t hang up next time you want to use it.
Said another way, what did these knuckleheads do wrong that would have solved their snags without having a runaway?
The capstan takes the strain of the anchor and connects the anchor to the ship? I take it that the capstan is rather massive and connected to structural members.
That’s pretty much how chain is stored in large ships. A big pile in the chain locker.
That chain hit (and partially wrapped around) at least one of the pillars as it took off. I’d guess it had enough force to kill or at least very seriously injure someone that stood in it’s way and I can’t even guess what would happen if it took them down the hole with it.
You can paint an area red, sure, but that just covers where the chain is moving, I was suggesting a guard to keep the chain from flailing about or whipping or whatever you want to call it, when it takes off.
I agree it did just that. And would have killed or maimed anybody standing there. As you say.
What I’m saying is the structure to contain that load would have been massive. And basically filled the space you’re trying to protect. With the effect that that space would be unusable for men working in. You can achieve the exact same effect: don’t stand there, by operating rules. With less expense and less weight. And gain the ability to occupy the space when it’s safe to do so. Which may be awful handy when you need to perform maintenance on the capstan or whatever.
A few things from a Navy retiree. I was aviation, but I got my Surface Warfare qualification, so at one time I knew all of this stuff like the back of my hand. However, Its been a few years…
Princhester - They Navy refers to every 90 feet as a shot.
Carnivorousplant - There are locks that are applied to the chain after the anchor is out to relieve pressure on the capstan.
LSLguy - That ensign isn’t in any trouble. While he may be the highest ranking person there on the fo’c’s’le (forecastle), he really isn’t in charge.
To add some information, I was watching on my phone at work, so I couldn’t turn the volume up too much, but at the end of the video you see one sailor giving directions wearing blue coveralls and a tan(khaki) belt. That is the Chief. He probably won’t make Senior Chief. Also you see a safety observer walking around in a khaki uniform with a white hard hat with a green cross on it. He is screwed, too. Also, I don’t know if you can see the colors clearly in full size video, but when you see the graphic that says WARNING SHOT, the second to last shot is painted yellow. Then you see DANGER SHOT, the last shot is painted red. That is why you see everyone run at the same time. I don’t talk to many Boatswain’s mates any more, but if I run into one, I will ask more questions.
Holy timesink, Batman - after an hour and at least 13 successive disaster videos I managed to tear myself away. Mesmerizing, so many accidents …
The capstan is fixed into the structure of the vessel. However, that is basically a static load element - the weight of the anchor and chain, or the movement of the vessel in the weather/sea conditions when at anchor.
The dynamic load of a free-falling anchor and chain stopping is much higher, which is why the end isn’t fixed - it would rip out any structural member it was fastened to.
If the weather/sea conditions get too extreme, you have to weigh anchor to prevent damage, and either drop a sea anchor or get some way on.
Thanks!
The description of this Naval-vessel-anchor-dropping-evolution-fiasco video states that the anchor was only arrested because it is attached to a bulkhead in the chain locker.
In military parlance this is called a SNAFU
I’m assuming you mean this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg3wwhhJ1aM
I’d guess the shackle (if there is one) is a breakable element if the fall is uncontrolled. That fall had been stopped on the yellow shot and didn’t have time to runaway uncontrollably.
My understanding was that anchor chains need to be free so the anchor can be slipped if needed. Maybe that isn’t considered a requirement on a Nimitz class carrier.
Depending on a variety of circumstances, it’s not uncommon to be able to recover the chain. They can drag a grapple across the known lie of the chain and then pull it up. This has got a lot easier since the advent of accurate GPS which allows quick saving of a highly accurate position and heading.
The chain is kept in the “chain locker”. It is fed into the chain locker via the spurling pipe. It is just fed in, in a heap. The chain is stud link chain. The bar across the centre of each link is the stud. Stud link chain generally will not tangle.
On commercial vessels I’ve usually heard of this being accomplished with a gas axe rather than by slipping the whole chain. Cheaper too!
Is this clear from the video? It could be that the chain was stuck, or it could be that the vessel came up towards its anchor ie no strain, then backed down away from it, suddenly causing the chain to start to run. As you would know, anchoring is usually a process involving co-operation between the bridge and the anchoring team.
Thanks for all the info.
In an amazing coincidence (or show of yur mad internet skillz) from clean across the planet you linked to a supplier about 5 miles from my house. Congrats on your aim. 
My stalking behaviour has become known. Restraining order coming up, I guess.
I do not understand the chain being “stuck”. Where was it stuck, and why did it run out if it were stuck?
Or, was it stuck and they freed it, causing it to run out?
My SWAG on it was that there was a mechanical problem with the capstan. More than once the chain stop playing out. The brake was released by the looks of the video and the chain did not feed out right away then suddenly it jumps and starts feeding out. They reapply the break. The last time they just keep spinning the break all the way off. When the chain started moving it too long to reapply the break until it got moving too fast for the break to stop it.
About how it got stuck.
As the anchor is pulled up the chain piles on it self. It piles with a peak. the peak tips over and falls on itself. More chain piles on top in another peak. It falls again. The chain does not tangle but the chain is stacked on itself and the weight on the chain has to be overcome. As the chain is feed out and is moving it is easier to over come the weight. But sometimes when stopped it is hard to get restarted. If the weight of the played out chain and anchor is less than the weight of weight of the chain sitting on top of the next link to be feed out it stops. If they release the break and wait most times it will start moving again. But the break should not be backed so far off that it takes too long to re apply.
If the anchor has made contact with the bottom the ship can be backed off the anchor giving more tension and it may start feeding out again. Or I have seen deckies the capstan down to get the chain moving. Then switch to gravity feed again.
I kinda wondered the same thing on my sailing trip, but it didn’t seem to be a problem. Admittedly our anchor chain wasn’t quite of the same class as the ones in the linked videos, but it was still impressive all piled up in the locker.
And since we’re linking to videos, here’s how we raised the anchor with our windlass.
:smack: