Anchors Away - Guernsey

[Greemble]

Someone seemingly didn't want them.
"Anchor Graveyard"

 

[Neeves]

The Russian cruiser Aurora was commissioned in 1903. She was not state of the art but provides something of a period for anchors. Aurora is famous (and preserved) for her role in the Bolshevik revolution. The Aurora was recently refurbished and painted - this picture is only a few years old.


I'm assuming they have stuck with the original anchor design. These are her anchors - the best I can describe would be articulated Admiralty pattern, the crown is articulated - but they still retain the stock. Latter interrations of more modern anchors dispensed with the stock - I'm no expert on historic anchor designs but maybe a Hall anchor

So around 1900 the future use 'fishermans' or Admiralty pattern anchors was finite and anyone holding stock must have noted a down turn in sales or worse - there were no sales.

I'm surprised they were simply abandoned - why not recycle them? The answer may lie in the history of steel making - maybe recycling was expensive....? Electric Arc furnaces were introduced in 1907 - so maybe steel recycling was difficult prior.

This is a modern anchor stock - there are lots of modern AC14s, the white painted anchors and a row of them middle left - but also some anchors not much different to those on the Aurora (behind the AC14s on the right).


I have seen Admiralty pattern anchors on inter island trading vessels in the Pacific Islands and those same stockless Aurora style - so old pattern anchors have a long life.

The stock of Admiralty pattern, underwater, in Guernsey could be any time around or after about 1900.

Jonathan

 

[Greemble]

I was curious as to why they were there.
The suggestion they were no longer worth anything sounds plausible. Dump them over the side as that would be cheaper than landing them in a port and the ship now has room to pick up cargo worth carrying.

Alternatively, the ship was aground and dumping the weight would allow them to float off.
It doesn't say how deep they were.

I think the sentence "It's thought some have been there for more than 200 years." just seemed rather odd.
It implies that anchors were being dumped in the same place for a number of years, rather than all at once.

Then again, it is a 'news' report, so most of the relevant facts have been stripped away.

 

[Neeves]

I was curious as to why they were there.
The suggestion they were no longer worth anything sounds plausible. Dump them over the side as that would be cheaper than landing them in a port and the ship now has room to pick up cargo worth carrying.

Alternatively, the ship was aground and dumping the weight would allow them to float off.
It doesn't say how deep they were.

I think the sentence "It's thought some have been there for more than 200 years." just seemed rather odd.
It implies that anchors were being dumped in the same place for a number of years, rather than all at once.

Then again, it is a 'news' report, so most of the relevant facts have been stripped away.

My take was they were all dumped at the same time from the same vessel, why else would they be piled, so neatly, on top of each other. If it was a place where random anchors were dumped I'd expect them to be scattered about a bit. I concluded surplus to requirement, un-saleable (out dated) - stuck on a vessel with a decent crane (or lifting device) whole lot jettisoned in one operation (maybe one after the other - cannot think how you would drop the whole lot in one movement). Could have come off a barge rather than ship. It would be interesting to know if there was a local commercial ship chandlery who might haver had stock of anchors. At the time they were used Admiralty Pattern anchors must have been quite expensive so dumping them unceremoniously could only occur when they had become worthless (and moving them to the mainland as scrap would not be cheap and scrap values are low (or they are now)

Some entrepreneur could salvage them and sell them to yacht clubs

This is in Freemantle (port for Perth, Western Australia)



Jonathan

 

[Frogmogman]

Someone seemingly didn't want them.
"Anchor Graveyard"

Hmm. What an intriguing story.

 

[Neeves]

Much dumping at sea and 'close' inshore is usually documented. The lack of documentation, and pyramid of anchors is (I think) most unusual - and even more unusual been a real problem and no-one investigated?)

I suspect someone wanted rid and this was easiest way (and place)

Jonathan

 

[TiggerToo]

... and there was I thinking this was going to be another Rocna thread

 

[Neeves]

... and there was I thinking this was going to be another Rocna thread

It can always be arranged.



Jonathan.

 

[Frogmogman]

It can always be arranged.



Jonathan.

I’ll get some popcorn.

 

[Neeves]

I’ll get some popcorn.

Frogmogman - please don't take offence

I've never understood this idea that popcorn is a balm for repetitive and argumentative anchor threads (why do people who hate anchor threads feel the need to read them and contradictorily post on them). Surely decent whisky or a boutique gin would be a better contribution than wimpy popcorn.



Jonathan

 

[Frogmogman]

Frogmogman - please don't take offence

I've never understood this idea that popcorn is a balm for repetitive and argumentative anchor threads (why do people who hate anchor threads feel the need to read them and contradictorily post on them). Surely decent whisky or a boutique gin would be a better contribution than wimpy popcorn.



Jonathan

It’s not a balm. It’s about sitting back and enjoying the show ?