Looking for a reference photo of the anchor chain on an Arleigh Burke class destoryer (USS Cole).
I’ve got some excellent size chain for my 1:350 Trumpeter model. I’m going to shave of the molded chain off the deck of the ship and use the new chain, but want a little more reference as to the “workings” of the anchor chain on the deck of the ship.
I’m guessing the the chain goes from the anchor on one end to a tube that takes the chain below deck…
Thanks
Hit the Navy Photo Galleries up and do a search for soemthing like “DDG” or “destroyer” (Or just hit the Destroyer Gallery) and look through the search results. You’ll find some photos like below with photos of the bow:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=107650
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=107496
You might also try “chain” there; although my test search only showed hits for other classes (CG, FFG, LSD).
Thanks for the photo tips…I went through over 80 photos and found a half dozen or so farily good shots.
It’s a good resource, but you do need to learn how to search there a bit… their search engine is not as good as google’s.
The mechanics of it are largely unchanged over the last hundred years.
Anchor is shackled to “shots” of chain, 15 fathoms long, these are fastened together with special links that can be opened. The shots are always painted, black is traditional in the USN.
Chain is measured by its ‘wire size’ which is the diameter of the “bent” material. So 4" stud chain might be 16-24" long and 12" wide, per link.
When the anchors are hauled in, and “housed” in the “hawse pipes” their weight is actually taken up using a “stopper.” This is a “pelican hook” which engages the links, which is fastened to a turnbuckle, often with a short length of chain,. to a padeye nearby. On larger ships, especially those with a long run of chain upon the deck, more stoppers (up to three) are used.
With the weight on the stopper(s), the capstan can be slacked, and the rest of the anchor rode allowed to fall into the locker below deck. This allows the capstan to be used for other anchor rodes, or to heave mooring lines.
On ships with windlasses, instead of capstans, stoppers are also used, but in a different form, as the anchor rodes are rarely unshipped from the wildcats on the windlass.
USN Anchor chain is always washed as it comes aboard, so it should be clean. USN practice is to keep the chain well-painted, too. it really ought not be faded, and never rusty. (You trust the ship and all the lives aboard to that chain, you do not let it rust from neglect.) One of the least favorite tasks for the Deck Department is painting the chain lockers. The easiest part of that is the flaking the chain out over the deck (needle guns and flaking hammers in the chain locker being much, much worse).
Bump 
I was about to post a question about just how rusty anchor chain may be but this post pretty much answers that question and I must presume anchor chain is cleaned and painted regularly in all navys for the same safety reason.
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I am somewhat unclear about whether the chain is cleaned and painted inside the chain lockers.
[:$]
Even google’s image search can be a challenge. A lot of rules that apply to their web search do not apply to their image search. Someone needs to develop a decent image search engine!
I’m going out on a limb here, but…
most of the time I’ve replaced molded on chain, I wish I had not. It’s hard to find stuff with flat links, never mind barred. it’s also hard to find it small enough.
I am certainly having difficulty locating suitably sized chain.
As for barred chain, I hope to use solder to bridge the gap…but must first find chain in the right size and shape.
The chain is flaked out on the pier or bottom of the dry dock. Then a crew is tasked with prepping (sand blasting, chipping hammers, wire brushes, etc.), priming and painting the chain. The detachable links between shots are not painted black. On U.S. ships, the first detachable link is red, second one is white, third one is blue, fourth is red, and so on. Also, links adjacent to the detachable links are painted whit; the number of white links on either side of the detachable link indicates the number of shots. First shot white link-red detachable-white link; second shot 2 white links - white detachable-2 white links; third shot 3 white links- blue detachable - 3 white links; etc. The last shot of chain is painted red, the next to last shot of chain is painted yellow. If the anchor detail sees yellow chain, then they know there is less than 2 shots of chain.
While the chain is on the dock being painted, another crew is inside the chain lockers prepping, priming and painting them.
Time for a sea story.
Many years ago, I served aboard USCGC CONFIDENCE (WMEC 619) in Kodiak, AK. I was a Damage Controlman, standing watches in the engine room, and part of the anchor detail - running the capstan. One night during a December patrol, the decision was made to anchor on the leeward side of one of the Aleutian Islands. Because it was night time, we couldn’t use any white flashlights on the foc’sle. The anchor chain was bit rusty, making the shot marks hard to see. We paid out what we thought was 5 shots of chain before I set the windlass brake. We carried 7 shots of chain on each anchor. When the stopper was passed (pelican hook locked), I was able to get a wire brush and clean some rust off the chain - the links I cleaned were yellow. As we slowly hove in the chain, we found that we were about 30 feet into the 6th shot. We hove in until the 5th detachable link was on deck and passed the stopper. Painting the anchor chain was added to the summer work list for the deck department.
Thanks for the color info…how many decades has the US Navy been painting shots different colors?
Also, while a crew is in the chain lockers prepping, priming and painting chain: how is the chain locker ventilated to prevent a buildup of either fumes or dust particles during cleaning and painting? I am presuming the ship ventilation system is not used in order to prevent contaminating other areas of the ship.
Ships’ chain lockers vary by the ship, but, in plan are about the size of a closet to the size of a small closet. [:)]
There’s a padeye on the bottom of the locker to which the anchor rode is bent using marline. The marline is there to keep the chain from slipping loose off a slack capstan, but not so much that it would not break with the full weight of the ship upon it (if you want the rode held fast, you stopper it; if it’s an emergency you want it to part rather than rip the bottom of the locker out).
So, small in plan, but, they are several “decks” in height (varying by the ship). Anyone inside the locker is likely riding a bosun’s chair.
The access to the space is by a manhole through the overhead, or a bulkhead hatch near the top of the locker. It’s a space that is not ventilated with the rest of the ship–it gets a gooseneck or “mushroom” ventilator on deck. For painting a blower is used to either force exterior air in, or draw air our–either usually by passing a line through the chain port.
Hmm, here’s a photo to show the size of the chain on a Burke: 
Note that they are getting set to set the pelican hook on the stopper.
This one may be better:
As we can see the gear for both anchors with their stoppers. The turnbuckle on the port anchor’s stopper is wrapped in something.
Speaking of Pelicans…L
Micheals craft stores have quite a variety of small chain in their jewelry section, including in different colors. Their black chain can be used almost as is.
Chain links w/ bar, from 3-D printer, comes in 12" lengths. Each link is separate, just like real chain.
EJ
OHO !
My client sent me some of that ! Enough for myself for four ships ( 1/350 ) and enough for his one 1/96 Destroyer . They are nothing short of awesome !
Another reason to learn how to use a 3D printer…[:D]
Thanks for the info ! Learning about the type of maintenance performed on board a ship helps a great deal in understanding how a ship is designed and constructed.[:D][Y]
That 3d-printed chain is amazing.
Could somebody eyeball those photos I found? Looks to be like those links on the Burkes are about 12-16" long each. Which would be about 24 links per inch or so at 1/350… I could be wrong, my anchor experience never had a stop at DDs; went from small craft to (big) Amphib in one go. So, I know from 3/4" braid to 6’ wire gauge chain (and the wire rope the LSTs used).
Spruce, no sweat. Sometimes, knowing how things really work can make them more "real’ when we recreate them in miniature. And real counts, even when scaled.
I am the sort of person who needs to know how a device works so that I can recreate it in miniature.
Makes it far easier for me in the long run…and I now understand why the Kagero 3D Arizona book depicts the anchor chains in black. Again, it will help once I build my old Revell Arizona kit ( replacing my 1960s build ) and maybe build a larger scale model of the ship.