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might be used for this purpose on the riding cable, and the backing chain shackled to it.

To Back an Anchor when Preparing for a Gale. Heave in or veer away on the anchor down, say starboard bower, till you bring the fourth shackle some few fathoms abaft the bitts; stopper, unshackle, and unbitt; pass the end out and shackle it to the ring of the port bower, which has been eased down to the hawse-hole; off stopper, and ride by port bower cable, with its anchor at the bows until the gale comes on, and then veer it down to the ground. Should the gale pass off, you can hang the starboard bower cable outside by the clear-hawse pendant, and replace both in their original position.

If on veering to sixty fathoms on the port bower, you found the gale still increasing, shackle the remaining sixty fathoms of the starboard bower to it; let go starboard sheet anchor, and veer away on both. Finally, if compelled by the violence of the storm to make the utmost of your resources, divide the remaining sheet chain between the port bower and starboard sheet. There will then be sixty fathoms between the starboard bower and the backing anchor; two hundred and forty fathoms on the port bower, and one hundred and eighty on the starboard sheet.

Anchors have been backed by vessels on a lee shore, with some of the guns.

Steaming up to Anchors. When riding out a gale at anchor, steamers relieve their ground-tackle by turning the engines. But care must be taken not to overrun the cables, as in that case, when the ship goes astern to a fresh squall, the violent strain on the chains would probably part them or start the anchors.

When a ship has let go two or more anchors, in a gale. she should weigh her anchors as soon as the gale moderates; much trouble will be saved by it.

In heavy heaving, a

A Collier's Purchase. strap may be put on the cable at the water's edge, hook the cat in it and assist in that manner. This is known as a collier's purchase. The fish may be clapped on to the catfall and taken to the capstan.

To Assist in Heavy Heaving. Put a large block on the cable, near the hawse-hole, reeve a hawser through it, belay one end to the mainmast or bitts, and clap a deck-tackle on the other end; or take it to the aftercapstan.

Some vessels (brigs and small sloops) use the deck-tackle entirely in weighing their anchors.

In using a deck-tackle, particularly in a large ship, much time is saved by having a whip from forward to assist in overhauling it.

To Anchor by the Stern. This may be necessary for a steamer in a narrow harbor, where the

vessel is too long to turn, or in a stream where there is no room for swinging to the tide. The British at the battle of the Nile anchored in this way to avold raking broadsides in rounding to; the French also anchored by the stern at Sebastopol.

As ships are not always provided with appliances for anchoring in this way, it would be well to use the stream anchor and chain, or a hawser, in performing the evolution, if it will stand the strain expected.

Get up the stream-chain, rouse it out through the afterport, haul it forward outside of all till abreast of the hatch where the anchor is stowed, then hoist out the anchor, shackle the chain, and let go with a strap and squilgee, or ease the anchor down to the bottom with the bight of a hawser.

Or, transport the stream-anchor to the cat-head or stern, as may be most convenient, shackle the chain there and let go.

To use a heavier anchor, rouse up the sheet-chain from below, pass it through the after-port, haul the end forward by a ring-rope to the sheet-anchor and shackle. Range the intended scope of chain on deck. In the absence of afterbitts, ring-bolts, &c., have plenty of stoppers and lashings passed; a stout hawser from the forward bitts, with a couple of turns taken round the mainmast, will relieve the compressor of some of the strain when the end of the scope is reached; the cable itself might be taken around the mizzen-mast. Stop the engine, or clew up and furl in good time, and check the cable as much as possible in running

out.

In all cases of anchoring by the stern, or with springs from aft, use slip-ropes to avoid injury to the rudder

or screw.

To Anchor with a Spring. Rouse up the stream-chain (or a hawser), haul it aft, as in anchoring by the stern, and thence through the after-port forward, secure the spring to the bower, keeping the bower-chain bent; then let go the bower. Now, by setting taut the streamchain and veering on the cable, the ship's broadside is sprung around. Ships may be sprung broadside to the wind, in warm climates, for the purpose of better ventilation; or in engagements at anchor, to bring the guns to bear on various points.

Using a spring from the bower anchor or cable, for the purpose of getting a ship's broadside to bear steadily on any object, can never be equal to the steadiness acquired by using a second anchor, with a stream-cable or hawser. A spring is at all times little to be relied on, compared with a stern anchor, and after it becomes dark, a spring will much decrease the certainty of gun practice. If a ship has a good scope of cable with one anchor ahead and the other

astern, rather tautly moored, and her broadside bearing well on the object, there will be little fear of her sheering about much. But should it be requisite to fire at night by previous bearings, then, to make the practice more certain, it would be well to have two kedges, with two good, strong hawsers laid out on the off side, one on the bow and the other on the quarter; the hawser from aft being attached to the anchor on the bow, and the one from forward to the anchor on the quarter; these two hawsers crossing each other at a good angle, with as much scope as possible, well bowsed taut, will insure the direction of the guns.

THE "SARATOGA" AT THE BATTLE ON LAKE
CHAMPLAIN.

As the success of the "Saratoga," in this action, was mainly due to the superior seamanship of her officers, as evinced by the manner of working her kedges and hawsers, a brief description of that part of the action may be instructive, since we are told that the "Confiance" (English), with but one spring on her cable, got just so far round as to hang while exposed to a raking, while the "Saratoga" was "entirely successful, springing her broadside successively on every vessel wearing the British flag."

The American vessels had each its stream-anchor hung over the stern, the cable bent ready for use; and besides the usual springs, the "Saratoga had a kedge planted broad off each bow, the hawser of each leading in through the quarter ports, the bights hanging in the water. In the midst of the fight, on firing the only gun (a carronade) remaining mounted in the starboard battery of the "Saratoga," the navel bolt broke and the gun flew down the main hatch. The attempt was then made to wind the ship. Fig. 433, Plate 93.

To this end the stream-anchor astern was let go, and clapping on the starboard quarter line, the ship was roused over to the kedge on that side; a line had been bent to the bight of the stream-cable, and she now lay with her stern to the raking broadside of the "Linnet" (position 2, Fig. 433, Plate 93), being for a brief space in a critical position, but dipping the port quarter line under the bows, it was passed aft to the starboard quarter, the ship's stern_sprung to the westward, and the port battery brought to bear on the enemy.

Having anchored with a spring to the stern, to heave up. If the ship is still riding by the stern cable, heave in the bower, veer away the stern cable, set the spanker, and wind the ship. Hang the stern cable outside (or stopper it); pass a stout hawser out of the sheet hawse-hole; pass the end aft, outside of

everything, and bend it to the stern cable at the nearest shackle. Unshackle, and let the cable go; man the hawser, and walk the cable in through the hawse-hole. When taut in, clap a deck-tackle on it, take the bower cable to the capstan and heave round. Walk away with the deck-tackle as the bower chain comes in. When the anchor is up, unshackle or unbend the spring and haul it inboard out of the way.

To Slip a Chain. In preparing to slip, put a buoy-rope on the chain, stout enough to weigh it, lead the buoy-rope out through the hawse-pipe and to the forechains, where it is made fast to a smaller line, equal to the depth of water, and bent on to the buoy. The buoy sustaining only the weight of the small line, can then watch properly.

Stopper the cable forward of the bitts, or heave down the forward compressor; have the shackle well abaft the bitts. Unshackle, stream the buoy, and slip by cutting the stopper or heaving up the compressor.

In slipping, give a turn or two of the propeller astern before starting ahead, to ensure clearing the buoy-rope.

Stand clear of the end of the chain as it runs out and see that it does not foul.

CHAPTER XV.

CAPSTAN-STEAM WINDLASS-STEERING GEAR.

The Capstan. The mechanical power employed in ships to heave in the cable, and thereby raise the anchor, is a modification of the wheel and axle; it is technically denominated a capstan, one portion of which, called the barrel, around which the rope is wound, answering to the axle of a mechanical machine; the other part, the head with the bars, being analogous to the wheel. To set this machine in motion, a moving power (the crew or steam) is applied to the wheel, and the rope being by this means wrapped around the barrel of the capstan, the weight or cable is raised. The cable itself comes to the capstan in all modern forms of that power. Formerly, however, cables were connected to the capstan by means of a rope or chain, styled a messenger, which did pass around the capstan and was made to unite itself firmly to the cable by means of nippers.

The messenger, which may still be seen in use on oldfashioned capstans, is commonly a rope or chain formed into a long loop, and, when of rope, long enough to allow of three or four turns around the barrel of the capstan, and then for each part to reach to a vertical roller in the manger, where the ends are united to form the loop required. This loop, moving around the roller and capstan, when the latter is set in motion, draws the cable inboard and aft when united to it by the nippers. When a chain messenger is used its links work over studs placed around the barrel of the capstan. A rope messenger goes around the barrel itself and increases the length required by three or four turns around the barrel, which have to be taken to prevent slipping.

A frigate is usually fitted with a double capstan, the upper barrel being on the spar deck, the lower on the main deck, on which the hawse-holes are also placed. Connecting "drop pauls," or pins, connect the upper with the lower capstan.

The holes in the head of the capstan are termed pigeonholes. They receive the capstan bars which work the capstan. To secure these bars, holes have been bored

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