Cable length
- 1 min read
- 2 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Unit of measurement, Rope and Metre
Etymology and origin
The modern word cable is directly descended from the Middle English cable, cabel or kabel and also occurs in Middle Dutch and Middle German. Ultimately the word comes from Romanic, probably from a cattle halter. A cable in this usage cable is a thick rope or by transference a chain cable. The OED gives quotations from c. 1400 onwards. A cable's length (often "cable length" or just "cable") is simply the standard length in which cables came, which by 1555 had settled to around 100 fathoms (600 ft; 180 m) or 1⁄10 nautical mile (0.19 km; 0.12 mi).
Traditionally rope is made on long ropewalks, the length of which determines the maximum length of rope it is possible to make. As rope is "closed" (the final stage in manufacture) the length reduces, thus the ropewalk at Chatham Dockyard is 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) long in order to produce standard 220 metres (120 fathoms) coils.
Sign in to keep reading
One more chapter is free with a Lably account.
Definition
The definition varies:
- International: 185.2 m, equivalent to 1⁄10 nautical mile
- UK traditional: 100 fathoms (600 ft; 180 m), though (The Admiralty) used 1⁄10 of a sea mile, 1 minute of latitude locally.
- US customary (US Navy): 120 fathoms (720 ft; 220 m)
In 2008 the Royal Navy in a handbook defined it as
A cable equals one-tenth of a sea mile - 608 ft. The length of a ship's hempen anchor cable was formerly 101 fathoms. 100 fathoms = 1 cable 10 cables = 1 nautical mile (very nearly)