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Lyrics
The Principles of Mooring Ship, Gear Used, Leads
Courtesy of John Pond
Read by Thomas C. Dolim, USMM
A vessel in mooring uses two anchors separated at such a distance that her bow is held practically stationary in the line joining the two anchors. The vessel will swing around her stem as a pivot. The chief advantage of anchoring in this fashion is that a ship will swing in a much smaller space than if one anchor were down. Ships are moored in places where the channel is narrow and the current strong; for example, in the Hudson river.
The steps of mooring ship will be briefly detailed here. Assume thetide-running ebb, with orders to use the two bower anchors, 45 fathoms on each chain, the port anchor to be let go first and port chain allowed to run out. The ship steams slowly to the berth assigned and the port anchor is let go. The port chain is veered as the ship forges ahead. At the command from the bridge, the starboard anchor is let go, when about 90 fathoms of port chain is at the water's edge. The ship's headway is now stopped and the ship allowed to drift downstream as the port chain is hove in and the starboard chain veered until the 45-fathom shackles on both are a short distance abaft the forward chain stoppers. The ship will now ride to the starboard chain.
The forward chain stoppers are put on both chains. One section of the crew unshackles the starboard chain at the 45-fathom shot and shackles on the mooring swivel cup aft. As soon as swivel is on, the forward chain stopper is removed and the starboard chain veered until the swivel is just about aft the hawse pipe. In the meantime, another crew has been securing the port chain, preparatory to unshackling it and heaving the end around the stem of the ship, in through the starboard hawse pipe and shackling it to the swivel.
The clear hawse pendant is led out through the port hawse pipe and secured to the port chain by means of the pelican hook. The slack is then taken in and the clear hawse pendant securely belayed. The preventer hawser is then led out through the port sheet hawse pipe, made fast to the port chain below the clear hawse pendant by means of a rolling hitch, the slack taken in and securely belayed. The preventer, as its name implies, prevents the chain from going adrift in case the clear hawse pendant should part. This is a necessary precaution, as the chain is heavy and once adrift will be hard to recover. The easing-out line is now hooked to the end link of the port chain, the hook moused, and the line taken to a bitt, where several turns are taken preparatory to easing out the chain. The dip rope is now led out through the starboard hawse pipe around through the port hawse pipe and made fast to the third link on the port chain. The other end of the dip rope is led to a gypsey on a winch or to the capstan, preparatory to hauling the end of the port chain out through the port hawse pipe and up into the starboard hawse pipe. When all is ready, the port chain is unshackled and the chain stopper removed. The man on the easing-out line gradually slacks away on his line as the dip rope is gradually hauled in. When the port chain enters the starboard hawse pipe, the easing-out line is kept slack, but with several turns on the bitts, so that, in case the dip rope parts, the end of the chain can be easily recovered. As soon as the end of the chain is at the swivel, it is shackled to the swivel and the starboard c hain then veered until the swivel is just outside of the hawse pipe. The loose end of the port chain is usually shackled to the sheet anchor so that anchor will be ready for letting go, or else it is hove in near the wildcat out of the way.
All gear is then secured.
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Keith Snyder
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