Cable length
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| cable length | |
|---|---|
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. A chain cable. A cable length is based on the historic length of a ship's cable. | |
| General information | |
| Unit system | Imperial/US units |
| Unit of | Length |
| Conversions | |
| 1 cable length in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| Imperial/US units | 0.1 NM |
| Metric (SI) units | 185.2 m |
| Conversions (imperial) | |
| 1 imp unit in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| Imperial/US units | Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content. |
| Metric (SI) units | 182.9 m |
| Conversions (US) | |
| 1 US unit in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| Imperial/US units | Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content. |
| Metric (SI) units | 219.5 m |
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A cable length or length of cable is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or approximately 100 fathoms. Owing to anachronisms and varying techniques of measurement, a cable length can be anywhere from 169 to 220 metres (185 to 241 yd), depending on the standard used.
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.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. A cable in this usage cable is a thick rope or by transference a chain cable.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. 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 Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.1⁄10 nautical mile (0.19 km; 0.12 mi).Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.
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 Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) long in order to produce standard 220 metres (120 fathoms) coils.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.
Definition
The definition varies:
- International: 185.2 m, equivalent to Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.1⁄10 nautical mile
- UK traditional: 100 fathoms (600 ft; 180 m), though the Admiralty used Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.1⁄10 of a sea mile, 1 minute of latitude locally.
- US customary (US Navy): 120 fathoms (720 ft; 220 m)Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.
In 2008 the Royal Navy in a handbook defined it as follows:
References
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Citations
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fenna, Donald (2002), "cable, cable length, cable's length", A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 35, ISBN 0-19-860522-6, OCLC 62608533, retrieved 12 January 2017. Also "fathom", from the same work (pp. 88–89, retrieved 12 January 2017).
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Master Ropemakers Ltd (2023), "Showing you the ropes", Historic Dockyard Chatham, retrieved 20 December 2023 Various subpages within the ropery section.
- Script error: No such module "template wrapper". (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Royal Navy (2007), Navy Slang: Cable – Curry, Royal Navy, archived from the original on 2008-07-07, retrieved 1 February 2011.
