The installation of conventional anchors in deep 

 water is difficult and expensive. Horizontal loading of 

 standard drag anchors is required for peak perfor- 

 mance; this is accomplished with long scopes of line 

 and/or deadweight to reduce line scope. Deadweight 

 alone in deep water is practical for only very low 

 capacities, that is, less than a few thousand pounds. 

 Deadweight anchors with efficiencies as low as or 

 lower than 0.3 require very large line sizes during 

 position-controlled installation; also, the equipment 

 necessary to handle these large anchors and long 

 lengths of chain and line is not standard equipment 

 on most vessels. The high efficiencies of propellant- 

 actuated anchors and their capability of resisting 

 uplift loads eliminate the requirements for long 

 scopes of line and hnes larger than those required for 

 the actual in-service loads. 



In summary, the advantages of the propellant 

 -actuated anchor are: Simplified handling; the ability 

 to resist multidirectional loads; speed of emplace- 

 ment; reduction in line scope and use of connective 

 apparatus, particularly in deep water; accuracy of 

 placement, ability to embed without dragging, and 

 functionability on moderate slopes and in lithified 

 sediments. 



The CEL 20K anchor can be utilized in practi- 

 cally any situation in which a conventional anchor 

 can be used. In those situations where installation 

 time and weight of the mooring system must be 

 minimized and where the ability to resist uplift loads 

 is required, the CEL 20K anchor provides a practical 

 alternative to conventional anchors. One of the prime 

 potential uses for the 20K anchor is for mooring 

 instrument arrays. Small diameter cables are needed 

 in these arrays to minimize current effects; this, 

 coupled with desired high line tensions, leads one to 

 use highly efficient anchors. 



The CEL 20K anchor was recendy used by CEL 

 to anchor the SEACON II experimental tri-moor 

 cabled structure (Figure 2), which is configured and 

 instrumented to obtain response measurements of an 

 internally redundant three-dimensional cable struc- 

 ture to ocean currents; implant water depth was 

 2,900 feet.* Two 20K anchors and one clump 

 moored the main structure, and one 20K anchor 

 secured a construction buoy. 



The anchors for the structure were proof-tested 

 to 15,000 pounds, but the actual in-service loads have 



been only a few thousand pounds. The anchors have 

 resisted these loads with no problem. The construc- 

 tion moor requirements, however, were significantly 

 greater. The primary function of the construction 

 moor was to stabilize and restrain the CEL warping 

 tug during array installation and monitoring. The 

 anchor was proof-tested to over 25,000 pounds, and 

 at one point, in-service loads of 15,000 to 20,000 

 pounds were exerted on the anchor by a moored 

 vessel for about 16 hours during storm conditions. As 

 of this report, SEACON has been in-place for about 

 one year, and the moor anchor has successfully held 

 all loadings applied to it. 



The CEL lOOK anchor (Launched Penetrating 

 Salvage Anchor) [3] was designed to provide reaction 

 for ATF and ARS class vessels that are pulling 

 stranded ships free. In those cases where the lOOK 

 anchor is unavailable or where the ship's handling 

 capability is insufficient, the CEL 20K anchor could 

 be used as long as it was limited to coral, sand, and 

 possibly rock seafloors; clay/mud seafloors should be 

 excluded due to their lower capacity. The lOOK 

 anchor will withstand loads over 200,000 pounds in 

 the more competent seafloors as compared to 60,000 

 to 80,000 pounds for a CEL 20K anchor with a larger 

 cable attached to the sand fluke. Since the beach gear 

 leg typically used in salvage operations is designed to 

 pull 80,000 pounds [4] , the CEL 20K anchor could 

 be suitable if it were used in the combination shown 

 in Figure 3. 



The CEL 20K anchor could also be used to moor 

 data acquisition buoys such as the NOAA monster 

 buoys, research vessels, and small tankers moored 

 short-term. Single-point and multipoint ship moors, 

 TOTO I, TOTO II and HARDTACK, and the 

 subsurface submarine target SQUAW [5] are 

 excellent examples of systems whose installations 

 could be simplified by the use of propellant-actuated 

 anchors. Although propellant-actuated anchors were 

 not suitably developed at the time of these installa- 

 tions, this type of anchor would have reduced the 

 number of ships required, eliminated the need for 

 heavy gear to handle deadweights to 25,000 pounds, 

 and reduced the number of mooring legs due to its 

 multidirectional holding capability. 



* See Reference 2 for SEACON II details. 



