Nelson & His World

Letter to William Nelson, written from HMS Albemarle at anchor off the Downs on 28 January 1782:

“On the 26th January, at eight in the morning, it blew a hard gale of wind at N.N.W., a large East India Store Ship drove from her anchors, and came on board us. We have lost our foremast, and bowsprit, mainyard, larboard cathead, and quarter gallery, the Ship’s head, and stove in two places on the larboard side, - all done in five minutes. What a change! but yet we ought to be thankful we did not founder.”

Did/does it happen often that ships drove off their anchor during a storm? How did they get a loose ship back on its place again. It must have been difficult to do that in a gale, but it would be too dangerous to let it float free.

Sylvia

Yes it did happen quite frequently. Depending on the situation, they might set the sails and try to sail out of danger, or warp the ship out of danger by carrying another anchor into position in one of the boats - very difficult and dangerous if in an exposed position in a gale. They were not always successful, and sometimes ships were wrecked in this way.

Hello Sylvia,

I think in the days of sail ships being driven from their anchorage by a heavy gale was quite a common experience and, as in this instance, a ship dragging her anchors and colliding with another vessel.

The important thing would have been to get some sail on, although probably not much, to get the ship under some sort of control. A close-reefed topsail and storm jib might have been all that could be set but the amount of sail would depend of the strength of the wind. An important factor would have been the direction of the wind, if it was blowing on shore - a lee shore, the situation feared by mariners - then there was, of course, the danger of the ship going ashore unless the crew, who would of course been roused out immediately, acted quickly. Very likely, the captain would try making short tacks, with as much sail as he thought prudent, out to sea. It the wind was offshore then the anchorage might have to be given up and the captain would hope to re-anchor somewhere else downwind.

Depending on the weather, the ship's boats might have been used to lay out the anchors, on on either bow, ahead of the ship. The cable of one would then be brought in with the vessel's capstan, and the time it was close to being brought up, the other would be fast on the seabed (hopefully) and the cables would be changed. Very often though the cables would part and the whole process would have to begin again.

There are instances where the ship has been saved by the expedient of joining all the cables together in one long one, on one or two anchors, provided there was sufficient room. I believe this method was often thought better than using two separate anchors and cables, since the long 'catenary' made the anchor dig in better. The end of the cable around the bitts was then literally the 'bitter end'.

Kester

Thank you Tony and Kester for informing me. It is much appreciated. To the bitter end is an expression used in Dutch too. Although I knew it had something to do with sail ships, I never knew exactly what the bitter end was.
Sylvia