ANCHOR. The most ancient anchors consisted of large stones, baskets full of stones, sacks filled with sand, or logs of wood loaded with lead. Of this kind were the anchors of the ancient Greeks; they held the vessel merely by their weight and by the friction along the bottom. When iron was introduced f or the construction of anchors, an improvement was made by form ing them with teeth or "flukes" to fasten themselves to the bottom.
Until the beginning of the 19th century anchors were of im perfect manufacture, the means of effecting good and efficient welding being absent and the iron poor, whilst the arms, being straight, generally parted at the crown when weighing from good holding-ground. A clerk in the Plymouth yard, named Pering, in the early part of that century (1813) introduced curved arms; and after 1852 the Admiralty anchor, under the direction of the Board, was supplied to H.M. ships. The present form of Ad miralty pattern anchor, which is still used for light work and in boats, is shown in fig. I. The parts of the anchor are known as: the shank, the ring, the stock, the crown, the arms, the flukes, the pea or bill, and the gravity band. It will be noted that, by removing the keep pin, the anchor can be "unstocked" for stow ing. The anchor must be "stocked" before letting go, to ensure that one of the flukes takes the ground.
Later came the self-canting and close-stowing Martin anchor, which, passing through successive improvements, became the im proved Martin anchor (fig. 2) .
In this pattern the arms are in one plane and can turn through an angle of about 4o° either side of the stock. Projections on the arms known as tripping palms (K) cause the arms to rotate, if the anchor is dragged along the bottom, when the flukes will catch in the ground. It is supe rior to the Admiralty pattern be cause both flukes are holding the ship instead of only one. It is also much easier to stow.
To stow a stocked anchor on the anchor-bed it is hove up close to the forefoot, and by means of a ground chain (secured to a balancing or gravity band on the anchor), which is joined to a catting chain rove through a cat davit, the anchor is hove up hori zontally and placed on its bed, where it is secured by chains passing over a rod fitted with a lever for "letting go." Stockless anchors have now re placed the older pattern almost entirely for bow, sheet, and some times stern anchors. The latest type of this anchor is shown in fig. 3.
In 1903 they were adopted erally for the British Navy, after extensive anchor trials begun in 1885. Their advantages are: handiness combined with a saving of time and labour; absence of davits, anchor-beds and other gear, with a resulting reduction in weight ; and a clear forecastle for "right ahead" gun fire or for working ship. These more than make up for the disadvantage that bigger, and therefore heavier, hawse-pipes are required.
Fig. 4 shows how a stockless anchor stows in a modern warship.
Fig. 5 shows the general arrangement of the anchors and cables on the forecastle of a modern battleship. (See also CABLE.) which annually migrate from the Zuider Zee to the Atlantic in autumn, returning in the following spring. The shallow and landlocked waters of the Zuider Zee become raised to a higher temperature in summer than any part of the sea about the British coasts, and therefore anchovies are able to spawn in these waters. Spawning takes place in June and July. The eggs are buoyant and transparent but peculiar in having an elongated, sausage-like shape. They resemble those of the sprat and pilchard in having a segmented yolk and no oil globule. The larva hatches two or three days after fertilization and is very minute and The word "anchor" is derived from the Greek ayrcvpa which Vossius considers is from oyrcrl, a crook or hook.
(E. A.)