Dogs that guard the chain

[Michael Lawrence]

Reg Kear in his wonderful merchant calyso, talks about the dogs on the for'clse that guard the chain. Can anyone explain this and how some idiot 'blood' on a cruise ship in the Carribean managed to let go the anchor while the ship was under way. Thanks in advance as I know there are a few ex masters aboard this site. Mike

[Doc Vernon]

Not too sure on this Michael!

Would it mean something on these lines?


Dog watch, in marine or naval terminology, is a watch, a period of work duty or a work shift, between 1600 and 2000 (4pm and 8pm). This period is split into two, with the first dog watch from 1600 to 1800 (4pm to 6pm) and the second dog watch from 1800 to 2000 (6pm to 8pm). Each of these watches are half the length of a standard watch.
The reason behind this watch's existence is that in order for the crew to rotate through all the watches it was necessary to split one of the watches in half, to create an odd number of watches in a ship's day. This allowed the sailors to stand different watches instead of one team being forced to stand the mid-watch every night. The choice of time also allows both watches, if there are only two, to eat an evening meal at about the traditional time.





Chain locker – A space in the forward part of the ship, typically beneath the bow in front of the foremost collision bulkhead, that contains the anchor chain when the anchor is secured for sea.

You also have this!
The handles on the watertight hatch or door are called dogs.

Thus the Dog watch (or Dog Handles)at the For'clse to guard the Chain(chain Locker) that holds the Anchor whilst at sea!

This makes sense doesnt it!
Cheers

[robpage]

It was a stern Anchor , so I am assuming that it is a lighter version than what is found at the bow

[Michael Lawrence]

Thanks lads. Never realised it was a stern anchor but assumed it was a fwd one. Assume which equals ass+u +me. Thanks for all your help Vernon as always. Read up on all nautical and only got ref., to dog watch, dog handles etc.,. No doubt we'll have more imputs . Mike

[robpage]

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur...1t:429,r:0,s:0

Looks like a big lump of Iron to me ! I am amazed that a passenger managed to release it at sea , based on his knowledge of a system fitted to his 50 foot motor boat , Maybe Carnival's Holland America line are saving money and fitting cheaper systems , another reason not to cruise Carnival as far as I am concerned .

[Ron Kendall]

as a safety precaution,didn't anchor chains have a smaller chain with a claw on the end, tightened up with a bottlescrew on the end next to the deck, to hold the anchor chain in situ? then the hawse pipe was plugged with some sacking, and topped off with cement. I think this method was called dogging the anchor. Happy Christmas to all, Ron

[happy daze john in oz]

Read thta report about the anchor being dropped. First report claimed it was the forward anchor, he had taken a pair of work gloves from somewhere and relaesed the anchor while the ship was doing about 20 knots. He was arrested by the FBI in a Mexican port of call. Cannot say I have seen a rear anchor on any cruise ship.

[Les Woodard]

What a load of garbage that story was because it is not the first time an anchor has been lost at sea. Would love to know how many where lost when someone decided to make painting under the brake handle easier by turning it out of the way. Besides that from what I knew about them the end of the cable is not fixed to the ship so it is a matter of getting another anchor and cable when next in port. There was a statement that it could have holed the ship. Lets think on this? Is it not the function of an anchor to be dropped with out hitting the ship. Especially if it was a stern anchor. Sure it happened but surely there is more newsworthy stuff to report than that.

[robpage]

I had not so I looked it up . the link to the picture is above . I would have thought it would have cleared the props though especially with the ship moving forward . My thought is why do they need a stern anchor

[Ivan Cloherty]

I had not so I looked it up . the link to the picture is above . I would have thought it would have cleared the props though especially with the ship moving forward . My thought is why do they need a stern anchor

There are lots of situations where a ship may need a stern anchor, too numerous to mention here,

Also earlier correspondent states that chains not connected to ship, yes they are, the final link being shackled to the chain locker bulkhead, depending on the speed of release and size of chain that bulkhead could be torn from its frame, sink the vessel, highly unlikely

earlier correspondent, get another anchor and chain at the next port ??? they are not "off the shelf" items mostly tailored to a specific passenger vessel

Rgds Ivan