Anchor windlass
A windlass ( seem.: Windlass ) is a device for heaving, so lifting the ship's anchor.
Large ships generally have two anchors on the back and for the most part two independent windlasses. However, there are models in which is constructed a single windlass for two independently usable anchor; this includes many historical and traditional ships. Usually, a windlass is designed as a combination of hauling, mooring and windlass.
On the mooring and mooring drum the mooring hawser (wire, Polyleine, Atlas leash) to moor the ship and the warping is wound up (move the ship at the pier ). The mooring winches have a work and a memory part. The cable is lying on the storage portion and is output therefrom. Only when the hauling the hawser is tight is wound on the labor part. So a unklarkommen the mooring is prevented when these particularly strong in the port operating train are exposed. The crew members must, in particular in case of wire, make sure that it is clean side by side drums.
An automatic Mooringeinrichtung ensures at festgemachtem ship forever constant tension of the mooring line (Manila or plastic). This facility is important in ports with changing water level.
To up the anchor a special sprocket / chain sprocket is engaged. On the sprocket, the profile of the anchor chain is exactly incorporated, so that the chain is always taken upon rotation of the sprocket, so it can not slip. The chain is not wound, but is only in that it is in profile, drawn: Out of the water, through the hawse-hole and disappears in the chain case. The chain wraps around the chain sprocket 110 to 180 degrees. The armature means is provided with a strong, manually or automatically actuated band brake. The holding power of the brake, depending on the application (with or without chain stoppers ) 45% or 80 % of the chain breaking load. The brake is necessary to slow down immediately when paying out the chain, when the chain length required is in the water and around the ship to keep at anchor.
In order to relieve the windlass, the chain are held by a chain stopper when anchoring. The use of a chain stopper is imperative if the band brake is not able to hold the load of the anchor process (80 % of the chain breaking load ). The Data obtained anchor is pulled by a lashing device firmly into the anchor pocket to make an annoying hitting the armature against the hull of the ship during the cruise to avoid.
Windlasses were at the time of sailing ships by hand over a capstan, driven later by small, mostly two-cylinder steam engines and now electrically or hydraulically.
In Christianity, the winch with the Holy Erasmus ( Elmo ) has been implicated in whose symbol it is.