machines which I have made, am making, or intend to make, and some other stuff. If you find this site interesting, please leave a comment. I read every comment and respond to most. n.b. There is a list of my first 800 posts in my post of 17 June 2021, titled "800 Posts"
Bellerophon -10 Raising the Anchor
by John
The main anchors on a 3rd rate 74 gun ship like HMS Bellerophon weighed about 2-3 tons each. And the wet 6″ diameter cable would have significantly added to that weight.
The anchor was “weighed” (raised) by manpower alone. Look at the following picture
And did you know that the anchor cable itself did not wind around the capstan? A rather smaller rope called the “messenger” wound around the capstan, and it was tied to the main anchor cable by a team of boys men called “nippers” with multiple ties. The messenger was an endless loop. As the main cable was pulled in the nippers untied the ropes which were securing the cable and the messenger together and a boy ran with the tie to the outermost end for a nipper there to apply the tie again. This exhausting work was often accompanied by a fiddler who sat on top of the capstan. Did you ever wonder why our youngsters were called “nippers”?
This drawing shows 3 decks of activity to raise the anchor. How many men on the capstan bars? I count 72! And more on the middle deck keeping the messenger taut on the capstan. Only one nipper visible although there would have been a team of them. That nipper is untying the ties. And look at the number of men feeding the main cable onto a coil on the lowermost deck. No wonder a large ship of the era required 600+ crewmen. And the difference in diameter of the messenger and the main cable is clearly shown. (Jean Boudriot, in “The 74 Gun Ship” vol 4, states that 235 men, officers and boys were required to raise the anchor in a 74 gun ship. And he has some superb drawings of the process. I will include some of them in a separate post.) Often the marines who were stationed on warships were employed on the capstans.Same process, slightly later period than Bellerophon. Note the French and British crewmen on the bars, with bare feet using the regulation method of pushing on the bars. (French AND British crewmen. Definitely a later period!) The rope around the capstan is messenger size, or possibly a rope raising a spar weighing only(!) a ton or 2.There are 2 capstans on my model Bellerophon. This one is made but not yet finished. I will decide later whether to add capstan bars.
johnsmachines 