QE2 Anchors

[Bob C.]

QE2's was very neatly and discreetly fitted, another touch of genius by the designers!

Andy, Can you expound?  I would love to hear more about the stern anchor design and arrangement.

[Andrew Collier]

Hey Bob,

I regret to disapoint, but actually have little to say on it. I just personally think they did a good job of incorporating it discreetly into the hull lines of the ship, obviously helped by the dark hull colour, but still so neatly concealed by design a lot of people are probally totaly unaware of its beign there! Just a small example of good design that I like so much :-)

Theres a lot of ships out there, even quality old ones like QE2 with far messier arrangments, SS Canberra, another fav of mine for example.

Cheers 

[Bob C.]

Got it and thanks.  I am more curious on where the chain locker is located for the stern anchor than the actual machinery but would like to see that layout as well.  Normal chain lockers on the bow gravity feed the chain from the focsle deep down into the bottom of the ship but I don't see much space available for that with the stern anchor.

CunardQueen,
    Might you have this area depicted on your General Arrangement plans?

[Andrew Collier]

Ah, that I can help with afterall.

There was a small vertical compartment running through decks four and five, just to starboard of the centreline, above the anchor which was the chain locker.

Will try and post a photo of the plan in a bit....

 

 

[Twynkle]

The spare anchor was stowed on the foredeck up until the 1992 refit when it went off to the Testbank Storage facility in Southampton. I know that the anchor did have to change at some point since then but the spare remained at testbank and is still there waiting to be placed on the QE2 Mile.

From the Daily Echo
Queen Elizabeth 2's anchor to be placed outside Holy Rood Church in Southampton
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8461284.QE2_s_anchor_to_find_new_home_in_city/

 

[Bob C.]

Ah, that I can help with afterall.

There was a small vertical compartment running through decks four and five, just to starboard of the centreline, above the anchor which was the chain locker.

Will try and post a photo of the plan in a bit....

 

 

Now I am very intrigued.  The haws pipe seems to be on 5 deck and you mention a compartment on 4 and 5 deck so it's logical to conclude that the windlass is on 4 deck.  Can't wait to see your photo/post

[Andrew Collier]

Hi Bob, Sorry for delay, have just scanned the photos for you, as soon as I work out how to resize them to fit the upload limit, I will post, really doesn't come natural this tye of thing!! Ideas anyone?  Cheers 

[Rod]

According to 'QE2' by Ronald Warwick & William Flayhart III, the original version from 1985, The original stem anchor was removed following damage in an Atlantic storm in 1981, it was repositioned on the foredeck to be used as a spare. This was to replace the original spare which had been on the foredeck since building, but which was lost overboard in another Atlantic storm in 1976. The anchor position on the stem was plated over and the stem anchor never replaced.

Apparently the storm caused the anchor to be pushed back up into the bow and jammed there. Upon the removal of the stem anchor, oppertunity was taken to reinforce the bow in the area it had been.

Cheers, Andrew

I beg to disagree.
I believe that the stam anchor was lost during a storm and on its way down knocked a hole in the bulbous bow!

I do not think I am wrong!

[Rod]

I've done some research into this now:

PLATING OVER STEM:

On 2 December 1976 QE2 ran into a really foul night of Atlantic weather. The 12.5-ton bow anchor came adrift and ripped a hole in the bulbous bow on its way into the sea. Constant pumping evicted the unwelcome Atlantic water.
QE2 was diverted to Boston for repairs which involved fitting metal patches inside and out. The ship had be tilted slightly by ballasting to enable workmen to repair the gash. Work was completed in time to allow QE2 to sail on her Caribbean cruise on schedule with the cruise passengers being brought to Boston from New York by plane and train. The bow anchor was never replaced so the stem was plated over.

1995:

While approaching anchorage in 1 November 1995 it was noticed that the starboard anchor had been damaged and 50% of one fluke was missing. QE2 carried a spare anchor (positioned on the foredeck) and Captain Burton-Hall suggested that the spare should replace the damaged anchor while QE2 was in Amsterdam overnight on 13 / 14 December 1995 as Southampton lacked the necessary floating crane, barge and dockyard requirements. The spare anchor did require some work to free up the shackle but this proved difficult to do so a new anchor was purchased from Lloyds Beal in Cardiff for £6,740. Regulations which insisted a spare anchor was carried changed so a spare anchor did not need to be carried so the spare was removed from the foredeck while QE2 was dry docked in Southampton for her 1996 refit and sent to the Testbank Storage facility near the dry dock for storage. There it remained until 2009 when it was presented to the City of Southampton as a reminder of QE2.

Thank you!

[Rod]

Remember Guys and Gals, its not the anchor that holds the ship in place!
Its the length of chain that they pay out that holds the ship. The anchor is a starting point for that chain. Remember they would go into an anchor port and seem to go really closs...then reverse? That was to pay out chain. the anchor was only about 12 tons the chain would be about anothet 30 or 40 more.
Dont forget also that the chains were not attached to the ship...so if the anchor windlass brakes failed....you lost chain and anchor. nearly happened once to my knowledge! Been there done that got the t-shirt.

[Twynkle]

Remember Guys and Gals, its not the anchor that holds the ship in place!
Its the length of chain that they pay out that holds the ship. The anchor is a starting point for that chain. Remember they would go into an anchor port and seem to go really closs...then reverse? That was to pay out chain. the anchor was only about 12 tons the chain would be about anothet 30 or 40 more.
Dont forget also that the chains were not attached to the ship...so if the anchor windlass brakes failed....you lost chain and anchor. nearly happened once to my knowledge! Been there done that got the t-shirt.

Thanks for this, it's so interesting! - do you know whether there are any deck plans / diagrams that show where the cables are stowed
Was this a place on board where anyone ever needed to see / assess etc (other than perhaps at refits) - must have been a really rusty, dusty place....
And - would the stowed chains ever shift about - say, in very heavy seas?

[Rod]

Thanks for this, it's so interesting! - do you know whether there are any deck plans / diagrams that show where the cables are stowed
Was this a place on board where anyone ever needed to see / assess etc (other than perhaps at refits) - must have been a really rusty, dusty place....
And - would the stowed chains ever shift about - say, in very heavy seas?

Basically no...But I think it was every 3 years at drydock....ALL anchor chains had to be take out cleaned and painted...they were marked in code to tell the length of chain paid out. Then the chains were reversed so the bit that was attached to the anchor then went into the ship first.

[Twynkle]

Then the chains were reversed so the bit that was attached to the anchor then went into the ship first.

How on earth did they manage that without dissembling the entire thing?
Or maybe my imagination's working over-time - and perhas this was done by a crane at refit?

The markings are in fathoms aren't they - and didn't they ring the bell to let the Bridge know how much was paid out, or weighed in?
I used to watch the whole awesome  'business' from start to finish, specially at the anchorages in Iceland and Norway!
(and bitterly disappointed on QM2, as it's all invisible, although great big rumbles still happen!)

[Rod]

Yes it was done by crane. The anchor disconnected, the anchor end was fitted on to the anchor windlass and wound in. While the chain was in the dock the oldcodes were removed and new codes painted. After a certain number or years a section from the middle would be taken out and put somewhere else on the length etc etc. A deck officer would be able to correct me.
Same with the lifeboat cables. Every so often they would be "end for ended"

[bobso]

I really like this short video showing the anchor of the QE2 being cleaned.--

See above in reply no. 4.

[Rod]

Sometimes you got go to a port and only use one anchor. Next time you went you might use 2. 2 forward or 1 forward 1 aft. All depended on circumstances.
One time at a port in the Caribbean, the anchor cable got tied in a "knot:
and it took about 3 hours of up and down side to side etc to get the "knot" untied!
I have to say though that the video  brought back many memories. In the days of the NUS, I do not know about the Philipino crew, the ships Carpenters did all the anchor details. Sailors washed it and secured it.

[Imonlygoingforone]

The stern anchor wasn't used for the last few years because it became so slow to deploy - basically as it was used so infrequently, it got seized up, as well as the cable getting tangled regularly in the chain locker. I think I recall it being used in St Thomas in about 2004 (scrub that, I've seen the picture now - it was used then!), and I also think one of the 'new' Captains tried it in 2006ish despite our protests - after all, he knew best! After an hour or so of trying, we gave up - I don't even think we got it as far as the sea bed. I don't recall using it any time after that.

The windlass for the stern anchor was on 3 Deck aft - horrible place! Going back to a previous comment, the markings are done in shackles. 1 shackle is 90ft, or 27.5m. Each shackle marker is painted red, then the corresponding number of shackles painted white either side. The bell is rung for each shackle that passes on its was home, when the anchor is 'aweigh' the bell is rung continuously. This is the time the black ball is taken down, as the ship is now technically underway.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you for these excellent and lucid explanations!

... when the anchor is 'aweigh' the bell is rung continuously. This is the time the black ball is taken down, as the ship is now technically underway.

How would you know when the anchor was aweigh?

And what depth of water would make anchoring possible? Presumably the slope of the sea bed was also important?

[Rod]

Basically by looking over the side. Again the color/colour coding on the chain will tell you roughly.
As far as depth goes, you have about 800 feet of chain. In some parts of the world especially the Caribbean, the bottom slopes gently for a while then drops like a stone....you do not want to anchor there. This is all checked on charts, also local authorities might have areas that are forbidden because of fish beds, lobster etc , underwater  pipes and cables etc. Something else that somes into effect is what is the wind going to be when you leave, where from? Boats to pick up, this also comes into the equation. I have seen QE2 leave one port wher the picke up the bow anchor first then the stern anchor, normally it goes the the other way.

[Rob Lightbody]

The stern anchor wasn't used for the last few years because it became so slow to deploy - basically as it was used so infrequently, it got seized up, as well as the cable getting tangled regularly in the chain locker. I think I recall it being used in St Thomas in about 2004 (scrub that, I've seen the picture now - it was used then!), and I also think one of the 'new' Captains tried it in 2006ish despite our protests - after all, he knew best! After an hour or so of trying, we gave up - I don't even think we got it as far as the sea bed. I don't recall using it any time after that.

One of the things I've learned from owning an old car, is that absolutely everything can be fixed, and made to work as good as new, but at a cost.  Certain bits of it do indeed work as good as new, but other bits are on my to-do list, or I'm waiting for them to get worse before it is worth doing anything about it.  But overall, the car is not getting worse.

When things are known to have failed like this, does it not conspire to give an overall air of "worn out" to the ship, that is not fair?  And does this air, not affect the crew?  I'm sure all the crucial stuff was absolutely fine, but all the non-crucial stuff...  If I was a new Captain given command of QE2, and then told all the various things I couldn't do because they were broken (stern anchors and bow thrusters spring to mind), would that not cause me to have a certain attitude to her also?