How US Navy Drops MASSIVE Aircraft Carrier Anchor at Full Speed

Welcome back to the FLUCTUS channel for a discussion about anchors dropped and hoisted from Aircraft Carriers and what it takes to keep them at optimum functionality.

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[jimbonacum]

Just in case the casual viewer is not aware of this, the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is one of the most dangerous places in the world. For example the arresting cable can break and if you are not in a safe location it can cut you in half when it snaps back. The flight deck crew are highly trained and deserve tremendous respect. We tend to think of the pilots as heros and I am not saying they aren't. But the flight deck crew are remarkable men and women too.

[robertfolkner]

I served on two aircraft carriers. Whenever the anchors were deployed or retrieved, NO ONE was allowed to be in the windlass room! The links weighed 350 lbs. each and were each composed of three pieces. Imagine the results if one of them broke under tension and people were in the room!

[musicever]

This video was really interesting and informative! Speaking from my perspective as a US Navy submarine veteran, the bottom of the anchor on a submarine is designed in such a way that when the anchor is stored, the bottom of it conforms to the vessel's round bottom. There's holes in the bottom of the submarine that are specifically designed for the anchor's flukes, and the chain is stored in a bin in one of the main ballast tanks. When the anchor is stored in place, if you were to look at the bottom of the submarine when it's in drydock, unless you knew what you were looking for, it would be difficult to spot the anchor.

[LAGoodz]

From a different perspective ships anchors are the bane of my life working as a global communications engineer. They regularly drag across submarine floor breaking fibre cables, disrupting Communications and Internet across the world and can sometimes take weeks to fix using specialist cable repair ships.

[rhodalphssanitorium]

I was in the US Navy. Thought I missed it the first time through, so I had to watch this a second time. The smart sounding lady did not answer the reason I clicked the video. I still don't know how an aircraft carrier drops it's anchor at full speed. That would have been something to see. Thanks anyhow. Love watching big ships in action.

[BeckVMH]

The hazards of this work looks incredible and pretty daunting from an outsiders perspective. Kudos and appreciation to all involved.

[oicfas]

I can't even imagine how you can stop such a heavy chain moving so fast downward with so much inertia in so little time. Amazing.

[brukujinbrokujin]

Fun fact. The one holding the ship is not actually the anchor, but the weight of the chain multiplied by the distance from center of chain to ship. This is why ships can stop even if they are above mud seabed where anchor wont clog into anything

[harryschaefer]

The room with the windlass is called the forecastle. My Marine son told me that the forecastle is a special part of the ship where promotions are sometimes awarded. I got to go on a "Tiger Cruise" with my son aboard the USS America. It was a major highlight of my 74 years.

[barryharris]

Having built US Navy ships my entire life, it’s quite exciting for the brake band on the winless to catch on fire during free fall operation. This is due to hydraulic oil leaks in the system. An unavoidable consequence on the older anchor systems. I’ve been doing this 30 something years.

[bluegizmo]

The anchor itself on large ships provides very little to none of the actual holding power when it's lowered into the water. The weight of the anchor is really just there to help pull out the chain. The weight of the chain itself stretched out along the sea floor is what actually holds the ship.

[johnb]

Great video. Technical point. The purpose of the anchor is to hold the chain on the bottom. When a ship pays out its anchor chain, the bulk of the chain is on the bottom, and a small part angles upwards through the hawsepipe and onto the forecastle and is "clipped" in place by the pelican hook that is connected to a strong padeye on the deck. That curve is called "catenary" and serves as a "spring" to absorb the strain wind and seas would exert on the ship, as more chain is lifted off the bottom. When the seas calm, that chain that was lifted off the bottom eases back onto the seabed. The anchor plays a critical part, but it is the accumulated friction of the chain on the bottom combined with the anchor that holds the ship at its anchorage.

[keywacat]

'Typically made of heavy metal' [calm dentist office music continues]

[SurpriseMurder]

at the end of each use, seamen give the chain a slap and utter: "this baby ain't going nowhere."

[FrankCarter-vq]

Such a task can't be done without specialized engineering supervision and alert personnel teams, outstanding work 👍

[patrickdoyle]

We don't talk about large weights in pounds... ONLY TONNES ..

[Bduh]

I can't even come close to imagine the constant maintenance on an aircraft carrier but I envision the "simple" maintenance on my truck and multiply that by a million just to get close to imagine what needs to be done to keep the ship in tip-top condition and, I think, that's not even close because there are so many departments with their own maintenance.

[axelfoley]

America, , what an amazing country. The engineering prowess & logistics acumen is mind-blowing

[stevensaid]

Another interesting fact about why arresting gear is needed is because the planes have to land at full power to ensure that if anything goes wrong the plane will have enough speed to take off again on the other end of the ship.

Also I’ve seen video of an arresting gear cable snapping and taking some of the flight deck personnel’s legs off. A flight deck is by far one of the most dangerous places to work.

[ramdobe]

1:57 didn’t expect to see lil nas X there😂