CAB 



aiiclioi*, called tlie (heet-cable ; and the two bowers, bcfl and 

 I'mall. The ordinary length of the great cable is j;o 

 fathoms or braces. 



To make a cable : after forming tlie flrands, they ufe 

 ftaves : which they tirft pafs between the ftrands that they 

 inay turn the better, and be intertwiiled the more regularly 

 together. And to prevent any entangling, a weight is hung 

 at the end of each llrand. The cable, being properly twilled, 

 I neither too much, fo as to become iliff, nor too little, fo as 

 to be weakened, is untwilled again three or four turns, that 

 the rell may the better retain its Hate. The ufual allow- 

 ance for the diminution of length by twilling, is one-third of 

 the whole ; fo that for a cable of 120 fathoms, the rope- 

 yarn mull be 180 fathoms long. 



The number of threads which each kind of cable is to be 

 compofcd of, is always proportioned to its length and thick- 

 lufs ; and it is by this number of threads tliat its weiglit 

 and value are afcertaincd. Snppofmg, then, the lengtlis to 

 be equal, the number of threads and the weights will be 

 as the areas of their bafes, or, which comes to the fame, as 

 the fquares of their cu'cumfercnces. Having then the 

 weigh: and number of threads of any one cable, we may 

 eafily calculate the following table. (See Aubin's Marine 

 Didlionary.) 



Circumference. Threads. Weight. 



3 Inches - 48 - 192 Pounds 



4 - - 77 - 30S 



5 - - 121 - 484 



(5 - - 174 - 696 



7 - - ■^SS - 9J2 



8 • - 311 - 1H4 



9 - - 393 - -157^ 



10 - - 485 . 1940 



11 - - 598 - 2392 



12 - - 699 - 2796 



13 - - 8ai - 3284 



14 - - 952 - j8o8 



15 - - 1093 - 4372 



16 - - 1244 . 4976 



17 - - 1404 - ,16] 6 



18 - - 1575 - 6ig6 



19 - - i7j4 - 7016 



20 - - 1943 - 7772 

 Several falutary laws refpedling the manufafture of cables 



have been made in the reign of his prefent majelly, G.-o. III. 

 See 25 Geo. III. c. ^6. It has alfo been enaded, that 

 commanders of velfcls belonging to Britifh fubjeCls, having 

 on board foreign made cordage, fhall make entry thereof at 

 their arrival into any Britifli port ; and the mailer making 

 default herein, all fuch toreign cordage as fliall be on board 

 (hall be forfeited to his majelly ; and fhall for every fuch 

 offence forfeit the fum of 20s. for every hundred weight 



•thereof. 



In the French marine, the circumference of the largeft 

 cable is one twenty-fourth part of the extreme breadth of 

 the fliip ; or half the breadth in feet will be the circum- 

 ference in inches. Thus, the circumference of the largeft 

 cable of a fhip, whofe extreme breadth is 32 feet, will be 16 

 inches. The length of a cable is t20 fathoms, each 5 



.French feet. The weight of one fathom of cable in French 

 pounds is nearly equal to one-tenth of twice the fquare of 

 the circumference ; and, confequently, the weight of a whole 

 cable will be nearly equal to twenty-tour times the fquare of 

 the circumference. The weight of an anchor is half the 



• weight of the cable to which it belongs. 

 Cavle, lit l/ie. See Bits. 



CAB 



Cables, Bozuer, thofe belonging to the bell and fmall 

 bower anchors, and are named accordingly. 



Cable, clinch a, is to run it through tlie hawfe-liole and 

 tlie ring of the anchor, three or four fathoms in length ; 

 then haul the bight up in the head, and pafs the end of the 

 cable over the bight, and through the ring, between it and 

 its own part ; then pafs the cable bends, and crofs them with 

 flrands, well gre-.^cd, one at the end, and the other about 

 one foot from tlie end ; and be careful not to form the clincli 

 larg^cr than the ring of the anchor. 



Cable, coil the, to make it up in a circular or elliptical 

 form, for the convenience gf flowing it ; each complete 

 round or turn of the cable is called a/i/r, and one range of 

 fakes along-fide of eaj.h other is called a lier. There arc 

 gtiierally from live to feven fakes in a tier, and three or four 

 tiers in the wisole length of a cable ; but this depends on the 

 length of a fake, and the number contained in a tier. Seve- 

 ral anthers, and particularly Melhs. Hutehiiifon and Govver, 

 have recommended that all cables Ihould be coiled the fame 

 w-ay they bit, or the way they run round the windhifs, and 

 their tiers (hould be on the fide cppofite to that on wliich 

 they lead. The bell bower, which is in general the working 

 cable, fhould lead forcmoft up tlie liatcliAay, then tlie fmall 

 bower, and, abaft all, the fheet, which, being the leall wanted, 

 can be made up fnug round the fore part of the hatchway, 

 out of the way. Should new cables come immediately from 

 the rope-walk, let them be coiled down into the craft that is 

 to bring them on board the fame way tlicy are to be coiled 

 on board. A cable generally kinks from more turns being 

 forced into it by the coiling than it naturally had ; the kinks, 

 may, how.vcr, be avoided, either by coiling the cable againll 

 the fun, or with the fim, and the end taken through the coil, 

 and the cable coiled down in the tier the way required. It 

 fliould be a rule, in coiling cables, never to lay out near the 

 hatchway, but to keep that part of the tier as low as poflible, 

 that the bends may have fuffieieni room to upfet. Were all 

 cables full coiled down from the rope-walk againft the fun, 

 they would be better adapted to coil on either hde of a fliip, 

 for a cable coiled againll the fun will more eafily reverie,, 

 and have lefs kinks in it than a cable coiled with the fun. 



Cable, cut the. When a (liip is riding at anchor in an 

 open bay or road-dead in a gale of wind, it many times be- 

 comes iieccfTary, for the prelervation of the (hip and crew, to 

 cut the cable with a hctchet at the hawfe holes or at the bits, 

 when it cannot be purchafed, and Hand out to fea, under 

 any convenient fail that it may be poflible to let. This may- 

 be alio nectlTary when compelled to fly from or purine an 

 enemy. If a fliip parted her cable, the infuiance would be 

 loll. See Slip the Cat.le. 

 Cable, tlujlic. See Coir. 



CABLE-/rt«/, any rope laid in the fame manner as a 

 cable. 



Cable'j length, is 120 fathoms, each 6 feet. 'Fhe dillancc 

 between two adjacent (liips of war, when formed into the line 

 of battle, is appointed to be one or more cablcb' length, 

 according to circumflances. The method of keeping the 

 fhip in its proper pofition with rcfpcft to the one next a 

 head, is to calculate the angle which the whole or any parti- 

 cular portion of the main-mall of that fliip would fubtend 

 at the propofed dillance. Then, if the angle obferved by a 

 quadrant is the fame as that by calculation, the fliip is in her 

 proper llation ; if greater, (he is too far a-head, and there- 

 tore fome fail mull be taken in ; but if lefs, the fhip is too 

 far allern, and more fail mull be fet in order to regain her 

 Hation. If the main top.gallant truck be brought to coin- 

 cide with a mark, the fame height above the water as the 

 cbferver, this angle is found as follows : from the logarithm 



