A cable length or length of cable is a
nautical
Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea."
It involves topics ...
unit of measure equal to one tenth of a
nautical mile or approximately 100
fathoms
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. H ...
. Owing to anachronisms and varying techniques of measurement, a cable length can be anywhere from 169 to 220
metres, depending on the standard used. The unit is named after the length of a ship's
anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
cable in the
Age of Sail
The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...
.
The definition varies:
* International: 185.2
m, equivalent to
nautical mile
*
Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texas
...
(
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
): 185.32 m, or
nautical mile, about 101
fathoms
** The traditional British fathom varied from in the
Merchant Navy, making the "historical" cable 169 m to 215.5 m.
*
US customary (
US Navy): 219.5 metres, 120 fathoms (720 feet)
See also
*
Conversion of units
Conversion of units is the conversion between different units of measurement for the same quantity, typically through multiplicative conversion factors which change the measured quantity value without changing its effects.
Overview
The process ...
References
* . Als
"fathom" from the same work (pp. 88–89, retrieved 12 January 2017).
* .
{{sailing-stub
Nautical terminology
Units of length
Customary units of measurement in the United States