It is not clear what is translated from an unknown language, I tried to put together all the impressions that I took out of the small Udmurt town of Votkinsk. Tried and tried and gave up: don't mix things up. So the first thing is just a "sightseeing tour", well ... very overview ...


It stands all along the banks of the Votkinsky Pond, unique, gigantic, I would say. 19 square kilometers, dug by hand for the construction of a dam, on the energy of falling water from which in 1759 the ironworks set up here by Count Shuvalov started working.

The history of the plant, in a good way, deserves a separate story, if only out of respect for the enterprise, which began with the forging of anchors, and then within its walls produced steamships, steam locomotives, the first Soviet excavators and ballistic missiles. Oil and gas equipment, machine tools, household appliances - who said that the Russian industry is dead? Did she die after all?) Well, Topol-M and Bulava also gather here, in an inconspicuous town far from the main roads.

Every single one of St. Petersburg residents and guests of the northern capital is well acquainted with the work of factory artisans, even if they don’t know about it: it was they who made and installed the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. When the question of the spire arose, the emperor was informed that it could only be made in England or at the Votkinsk plant, and the Russian craftsmen took half as much for the work as the British specialists had asked for.
Votkintsy will definitely show you the spire of their Annunciation Cathedral, hinting - it looks like it, doesn't it?


A legend is connected with the foundation of the church at this very place, developing the motive of confrontation between paganism and Orthodoxy, traditional for the Vyatka, Udmurt region. The legend was told by the archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral A.I. Chernishevsky: “On the hill where the Cathedral of the Annunciation, they (the Votyaks) had a tent, i.e. a strong barn with a floor and ceiling, where they kept hay tools, provisions, honey from the boards. Here, according to the old people of this village, for ten years before the founding of the plant, at times they began to hear a rumble, as if from a ringing of a bell, which had never happened before. Then the Votyaks began to explain that there would once be a Christian church here and crush their sanctuaries, where it was so convenient for them to offer sacrifices to Keremet" (VEV , 1863, No. 2, p. 588)

The symbol of the city, directly related to the history of the plant.

Just a discovery for myself, dug up on the Votkinsk website:
“The first monument on the territory of Udmurtia, reflecting factory production, was a 167-pound anchor, made at the Votkinsk plant in 1837 for the Black Sea Admiralty. The heir to the All-Russian Throne took part in the forging of the anchor, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich (the future Emperor Alexander II), as evidenced by the inscription carved between the paws of the anchor: "His Imperial Highness the Sovereign, Heir to the All-Russian Throne, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich, honored to forge with his own hands an anchor weighing 167 pounds. May 22, 1837." On the other side of the anchor was carved the inscription: "Delan under the head of the mining lieutenant colonel Tchaikovsky, the manager of the plant, Major Romanov and the commission agent of the Admiralty Department Alekseev."

It was decided to leave the anchor at the Votkinsk plant as a monument. The project of the monument was carried out by the manager of the plant V.I. Romanov. The monument was solemnly opened on June 16, 1840. His Grace Neophyte, Bishop of Vyatka and Slobodskoy, having performed a prayer service with the cathedral of the clergy, consecrated the monument.

"Monument" Anchor "". Picture. Author: Vasily Vasilyevich Nepryakhin. Paper, watercolor, ink. 1859 (1860?) In the lower right corner of the picture is the inscription: "July 25, 1859". On the back of the drawing there is an inscription in ink: "Drawed by the clerk Vasily Vasilich Nepryakhin."

"The anchor rested on a cast-iron pedestal, hung on a rod with chain ropes, surrounded by a very elegant lattice, divided into several parts by columns of the same cast-iron, on which double-headed eagles with spread wings sat. On two opposite sides of the pedestal, the following inscriptions from gilded letters read: "His Imperial Highness the Sovereign Tsesarevich, Heir to the All-Russian Throne, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich honored to forge an anchor with his own hands at the Troitsk anchor factory when visiting his Kamsko-Votkinsky factory on May 22, 1837 "(extract from the Izvestiya of the Sarapul Zemstvo Museum. Issue 2. Sarapul. Printing house N.E. Onchukova, 1912).

The anchor, which was one of the main items in the nomenclature of forging products of the 19th century, served the Russian fleet for a long time and faithfully under Ushakov, Lazarev and Nakhimov.

62 percent off total anchors manufactured in the 19th century at 24 Ural factories accounted for the share of the Votkinsk plant. In terms of quality, Votkinsk anchors (produced at the Votkinsk plant by decree of Catherine II since 1779) were unmatched, they were supplied to the largest battleships of the domestic fleet. An outstanding naval commander, Admiral P.S. Nakhimov, who tested the anchors of the Votkinsk plant on the Black Sea in October 1847, noted that the anchors "turned out to be completely appropriate for their purpose."

In 1849, the Russian maritime department confirmed that the anchors made at the Votkinsk plant "deserved full approval and turned out to be the most excellent." Votkinsk anchors were honored to stand on pedestals in the years. Sochi and Votkinsk. The Maritime Museum of Klaipeda exhibits a 137-pound anchor, forged at the Votkinsk plant in 1803. In the years Soviet power the monument, to the creation of which the king himself had a hand, was melted down. However, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Votkinsk plant, it was restored in the same place (a similar anchor can be seen on the territory of the plant itself).

The Votkinsk anchor today is not only a city insignia, but also a Russian one. Five years ago, a local exhibit passed a competitive selection in an international project, where the main symbols of our country were determined. Several museums from Udmurtia also took part in the competition, including our Museum of History and Culture. The Votkinsk museum workers, as an object from their funds that most closely matches the image of Russia, chose a drawing by the clerk Vasily Vasilyevich Nepryakhin "Monument" Anchor ", made in 1859, in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Votkinsk plant."

Monument of the Soviet era, Yubileiny Palace of Culture.

"GREAT DURATION AND ULTIMATE ART"

"Salt, hemp and wax" - we remember these words from school. This is a simple list of goods that traded Ancient Russia. Later, bread, timber, furs and flax were added to them. We are so accustomed to considering old Russia an agrarian power that we are sometimes surprised: really, long before Peter I, Russia exported iron to the foreign market, and iron, which was famous throughout Europe? It was taken in strips and in the form of products: axes, plowshares, etc. The anchors included in this list, made of "bog iron", were famous in the same way as Russian sables. An unacceptable mistake is made by those historians who believe that, they say, metallurgy in our country began to develop since the time of Peter. The Russians knew how to make iron long before him, and as for iron anchors, they were undoubtedly forged even before the baptism of Russia. This is evidenced by many exhibits collected by local historians, folk epics tell. The emergence of anchor production in Russia is lost in the mists of time.

Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan, Gorodets, Voronezh, Lodeynoye Pole, and many cities of the Urals were once famous for their anchor masters. For example, the anchor craftsmen of Yaroslavl and Vologda forged about a hundred "large two-horned anchors" for the ships of the sea flotilla, built on the orders of Boris Godunov for sailing in the Arctic Ocean.

It is sometimes believed that at one time Tula was famous for anchors. This is mistake. In Tula, they never forged anchors. She is famous for thinner and more elegant forgings. In 1667, when Russia was building its first large ship to sail along the Volga and the Caspian Sea, the Tula craftsmen refused to forge anchors for it. Blacksmiths in the village of Dedinovo, where the Eagle, a three-masted sailboat 24.5 m long, was built, also said that they themselves did not know how to do this, and the only anchor master in the village was busy making a tongue for the Big Assumption Bell. Blacksmiths called from Kolomna also did not agree to forge anchors, and the craftsmen had to be sent from Kazan. It was they who made two large anchors with rods and four cat anchors for the "Eagle".

Even before Peter the Great, anchor production was widely developed on the banks of the Volga. For centuries, this craft flourished in Nizhny Novgorod province. From the travel notes of Russian academicians of painting G.G. and N.G. Chernetsov, who made a trip along the great Russian river one hundred and twenty-five years ago, we learn that anchors were made mainly in Gorodets:

“Gorodets used to be a city and the residence of the princes of Gorodetsky and even had its own bishops. Now it is only a significant village. forge one anchor up to twenty thousand poods.

The domestic shipbuilding that unfolded under Peter I, as a result of which Russia received 895 ships, led to the rapid development of blacksmithing. Peter personally established strict rules for testing the iron produced in the country. And soon Russian metal had no equal in quality all over the world.

Anchors for the ships of the Azov fleet, built by Peter in Voronezh, were forged by blacksmiths gathered from all over Russia. By a special decree, Peter forbade them to forge any products other than those related to the fleet, and ordered the monasteries to pay for their work. The forges of the first Russian breeders - Demidov, Butenat, Naryshkin, Borin and Aristov - also had to supply anchors. Later, "state-owned iron factories" were established in the Novgorod and Tambov provinces, and exploration work began to identify iron ore deposits near Lake Ladoga.

Anchors for the first frigates of the Peter's fleet, which were built in 1702 on the Svir and Pasha rivers, were forged in Olonets (Lodeynoye Pole). The iron obtained from the Olonets "bog ore" was valued in Europe on a par with the famous "Swedish iron" and was famous for its flexibility, good malleability and extreme toughness. In addition, it was easily welded: the clean surfaces of two pieces of iron, heated to the appearance of sparks, were combined into one mass from a hammer blow or strong pressure. And this property is important. Here is a good example. Anchors for the ships of both Kamchatka expeditions of Bering-Chirikov (1725-1742) had to be carried across Siberia on reindeer. Since such a load turned out to be beyond the strength of a fragile animal, the horns were beaten off from the anchors ready for shipment. Parts of the anchor were transported through Siberia separately, and already on the shore Pacific Ocean, in temporary forges, the horns were again welded to the spindle. Wooden rods were made, of course, from improvised materials on the spot.

Such anchors made of "swamp iron" were many times stronger than English ones, because in Russia charcoal was placed in the furnace for making iron, and puddling furnaces were heated with firewood. In England, for the manufacture of iron in the furnace, coal and coke containing sulfur and phosphorus were used, which reduced the quality of iron. The Russian two-weld iron used for the manufacture of anchors was superior in quality to the English three-weld iron. Under the blows of the hammer, the "swamp iron" was well riveted, and with the next heating-annealing, its former softness was easily restored. The fact that Russian anchors were in great demand abroad can be judged from many documents of the time of Peter the Great. Here, for example, is a letter from the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vasily Dolgorukov, to Peter I dated March 8, 1718:

"... There are ship anchors here in Your Majesty's shops, with which the painting is embedded; there are also cannon machines and buckshot. And since I do not have a decree to sell, I will order to put buckshot and anchors as much as possible on the Yehudiel ship" and I will send them to St. Petersburg, and I will wait for Your Majesty's decree when I get them.His Majesty's Naval Commissioners, the King of Denmark, traded those anchors with me and told me that they had such a need for them that several ships would not be able to go to sea for them. I refused to sell them and said that without a decree I dare not ... " .

The heaviest anchors for large ships of the Russian fleet were then made in Izhora, where the Admiralty Plants were founded in 1719 by Peter's decree. Forging hammers at these factories were driven by water mills.

The high demands Peter made on the quality of the material going to the anchors can be judged by his decree "On testing at iron factories", sent out in April 1722 by the Bergcollegium "to all the ironworks where iron is made." In fact, this is a law on mandatory rules for testing and subsequent branding of iron. The first test of strip iron, invented by the king, consisted in the fact that an iron strip was wound around a pillar six inches in diameter dug into the ground. This operation was repeated three times (in different directions), after which the strip was inspected, and if it did not show signs of destruction, stamp No. 1 was stamped on it. The second test: "take an iron strip, beat it against the anvil three times with all your might." If the iron withstood, stamp No. 2 was stamped on it. On strips that did not withstand either the first or second test, they put stamp No. 3. The sale of strip iron without these marks was strictly prohibited. To oversee the blacksmiths, Peter established a position - "I'm working on the iron commissar." Peter's decree on the testing of iron, despite the primitiveness of the samples, marked the beginning of the struggle for the quality of the metal on a national scale.

Other decrees of Peter associated with anchor production have also been preserved. One of them, dated January 17, 1719, reads in part:

"... send good two people from the anchor tenants, one to the lower Gorodets volost, where there is a large anchor factory, the other to Tikhvin as a master, and with them one blacksmith, and give them a spot with such a decree that no one will have any anchors sold without their spots, and that they would establish this business in both places.

Peter himself was a good blacksmith. Arriving to inspect the Istets factories, he forged eighteen poods of iron with his own hands in a day. He always treated blacksmiths with great attention and care. For example, when he learned that Maxim Artemiev and his apprentice Gavrila Nikiforov were considered the best anchor craftsmen in the Nizhny Novgorod province, he immediately issued an order to transfer both to the Voronezh shipyard. The first was appointed an anchor master with an annual salary of 12 rubles, and the second - as an apprentice with a salary of 10 rubles. At that time it was a lot of money. In addition, they still received "daily and fodder", that is, modern language- "daily". And when the construction of the Azov fleet was completed, they were first sent "to anchor business" to the private iron factories of Butenat, and from 1706 they forged wonderful anchors at the Petrovsky factory.

On the technology of manufacturing anchors in Russia in early XVIII century, we learn from the "Regulations on the management of the Admiralty and the shipyard", issued by Peter on April 15, 1722. "Anchors should be made according to the prescribed proportion of good iron, and look firmly so that the rods are firmly and tightly bound with good iron before they are put into the forge." When heated in a furnace, it was instructed to carefully monitor that the metal "neither burn it, nor take it out cold, so that it is tightly welded everywhere and there would be no lack of cooking." The same conditions must be met "in welding the horns to the spindle", and during "beating on the anvil".

From the anchor master, Peter demanded not only "to manage the works with diligence and good workmanship", as from other blacksmiths, and "great diligence and extreme art." The anchor master was specifically reminded that he should be the one to answer if the ship crashed due to a broken anchor: "Because the whole integrity of the ship consists in what it must answer, if that is done through negligence."

Under Peter, anchors were subjected to a severe test of strength. The new anchor was first raised to the height of the spindle and thrown with the heel onto the cast-iron beam, then, raising the anchor to the same height, it was again thrown down with the eye and, finally, sideways, in the middle of the spindle, on the gun barrel. If the anchor withstood these three throws, a special mark was stamped on it. Such a test of anchors by throwing became traditional in Russia and remained almost until the end of the last century. Here is how it was carried out in the thirties of the last century at the Ural factories:

"... Anchors to touch it by the ring that has a forearm with a rope and thread that rope into the block that was made for the iron described above, and lifting it up to the very block, lower it, without holding it, onto a cast-iron bar or board three times. And if it resists, then inscribe on it to the master, where it is made, and the number of the present year and its master and managerial, who, with one sample of the incident, name and weight and letter R, which means that it has been tried, and by notch, give it to the treasury with a note. And those samples that do not stand, but show a break or a gap, do not accept such, but order them to be corrected, and after correcting the packs, try against the above and, according to the sample, give it to the treasury. And for the time that they will stay during the correction, do not give anything for the work, because they are guilty of doing it regularly from one time.

In 1963, an old anchor was raised from the bottom of the sea in Ilyichevsk. In addition to the factory brand, the following inscriptions have been preserved on it: Andrey Krotov, Ivan Cherkasov, Alexander Moskvin, Matvey Tyurin. In all likelihood, the first name is the name of the anchor master, the second is the forge manager, the last two are the names of the witnesses who were present when the anchor was tested for strength.

The above excerpt is from the chapter "The Case of Anchors, Hammers, Clamps and Other Things" of the book "Description of the Ural and Siberian factories"The author of this book is Georg Wilhelm de Gennin (1676-1750), a Dutchman from Amsterdam who has been in the Russian service since 1698. He was an outstanding engineer and metallurgist of his time. He managed the Ural factories for twelve years and was one of the best experts in mining and metallurgical business of the 18th century.It is not for nothing that Academician M.A. Pavlov once called this book an encyclopedia of mining and metallurgy in Russia.

In Russia, since the time of Peter the Great, every ship of the line has been supplied with five anchors. The largest and heaviest, usually the right back, was called a plecht. The second largest, the left one, is a dagliksom, the third is a bay. It was kept stowed under the second crumball behind the daglix, on the port side of the ship. The fourth anchor was called the mooring. It was a spare anchor, and they kept it in the hold behind the mainmast. The spindle of this anchor was fastened to the beam, and the paws were buried in stone ballast. The mooring rod, so that it does not interfere with loading into the hold, was laid flat on the bottom flooring. The fifth largest anchor was called toy; it was fastened in a marching manner, like bays, but on the right cheekbone of the ship behind the plecht. In addition to these five anchors, Russian sailing ships could have several verps, the heaviest of which was called a stop anchor.

In "Explanatory maritime vocabulary"V.V. Bakhtin, published in St. Petersburg in 1894, there is the term "babay". So in the Astrakhan province they used to call the largest anchor on a seaworthy vessel.

"KING-ANCHOR"

In the middle of the last century, the most reliable anchors in the world were those that were forged in the Urals at the Botkinsky, Serebryansky and Nizhneturinsky plants. Egor Petrovich Kovalevsky became interested in the manufacture of Ural anchors - a mining engineer, a progressive public figure and a brave explorer. In 1836, while still being the bergeymester of the Ural gold mines, he, together with the engineer Noskov, began to study the technology of manufacturing anchors at the Gornoblagodatsky factories. Having described in detail the process of production of anchors at various factories in the Urals, Kovalevsky came to the conclusion that this process is incomparably simpler and better than in England. Later, he proposed a number of improvements to the administration of the Ural factories, which further improved the quality of products and reduced their cost.

The weight of the Ural anchors often exceeded five tons. The largest battleships of the Russian fleet were supplied with them, the best metal was taken for their forging, they were made by the best craftsmen, they withstood the most severe test of all that ever existed in the history of metallurgy. Each anchor made in those years in the Urals rightfully deserves the name "Tsar Anchor", and the few anchors that have survived to this day should be installed on a pedestal as monuments to the remarkable skill of Russian blacksmiths.

At the same time, we note that the Tsar Cannon never fired, and the Tsar Bell never rang, while the Ural anchors served the Russian fleet for a long time and faithfully under Lazarev, Ushakov and Nakhimov.

In order to give the modern reader an idea of ​​how much work it took a hundred years ago to make an anchor for a battleship, we will cite an excerpt from an article by D. Leontiev, an engineer at the Botkin Plant. It was published over a hundred years ago in the Naval Collection, No. 5, Volume XXVIII, 1865.

"When assembling the spindle for a 270-pound anchor, the strips are placed four in a row: three 4 1/2 inches wide and one 3 1/2 inches wide, while the width of the row will be 4 1/2 + 4 1/2 + 4 1 / 2 + 3 1/2 \u003d 17 inches. There are eleven such rows in the spindle assembly. And since the thickness of the strip iron for a 270-pood anchor is 1 1/8 inches, the thickness of the assembly will be about twelve inches. The seams of each row overlap with the strips of the next row and for this, strips 3 1/2" wide are laid one in a row, now on the right, then on the left side. The length of the assembly (package) is 11 feet 4 inches.

The package assembled for the spindle weighing about 250 pounds, with the end, which is subsequently processed into a sheima, is inserted into the welding furnace. He is given a pitch so strong that it is possible to compress the heated part of the package until the strips that make up the assembly are tightly connected to each other. In this order, the package is boiled and crimped to the middle, after which the bag is wrapped and placed in the oven with the other end, and crimping is also carried out from it to the middle. Of course, due to the uneven elongation of the strips during crimping, the middle of the package becomes convex, and the mutual position of the strips must change, and in order to equalize their length, it is necessary to heat the middle and slightly compress it, and then give a strong boil to boil the strips and connect them into one whole, and from excessive pitch, and sometimes two, the middle of the package burns significantly and comes out thinner.

Thus, to crimp the entire package, you need to lay it in the oven for heating nine to ten times and bring it under the hammer for crimping the same number of times.

When crimping the first half of the package, it is easy to see, by the volume of the crimped place, whether enough iron was taken for the spindle, and if not, then at the other end, before giving it a pitch, wedges of strip iron are stuffed. Sometimes such wedges are hammered with up to thirty pounds.

Crimping pitches give the highest, or, as the masters say, cruel, in order to thoroughly boil the inside of the assembly at the very beginning. If, however, you do not give strong pitches, and thereby do not contribute, if possible, to a close connection of the strips into one whole, then subsequently, when the spindle is forged, it will certainly split, crack along the length, and then nothing remains but to fix the cracks with planks, and this tool is only suitable for the species.

Crimping is followed by forging; it starts from the middle and goes to the ends. Vars are given high. Of course, the blacksmith observes that the spindle is forged to the specified dimensions in length and thickness. The forged spindle for the 270-pound Parker anchor is five feet longer than its assembly and thinner by one-third of the cross-sectional area of ​​the same assembly. The weight of the spindle is only 165 pounds. Consequently, weight loss eighty-five pounds in a frenzy.

For the horns, the assemblies are made of the same iron that was taken for the spindle, and the strips are also arranged in rows in width and thickness, only the packages are made shorter, namely, four and a half feet for a 270-pood anchor; the weight of such an assembly is about 90 pounds.

Of course, the crimping of a package with its small length is performed from two or three vars, but forging to the dimensions determined for the horn is carried out with the assistance of nine vars.

When forged, the length of the horn with weasels extends up to eight feet, and the weight is 65 pounds.

At first, when the method of making Parker anchors was introduced at the Botkinsky factory, the assembly of the horn was given a wedge-shaped appearance, suitable for the shape of the finished horn, but such an assembly represents unnecessary work, which could not be avoided, as long as the anchor parts were forged under light hammers; when a steam hammer of 4 1/2 tons was installed, the same horns began to be forged from a prismatic assembly, now used at the Botkin plant.

In the forging of the horns, the same procedures and precautions for the actual welding of the strips constituting the assembly are observed, as have been calculated above for the welding of the spindle.

It is not uncommon to see on separate horns and spindles the seams between the stripes that make up the assemblies; this usually happens in those cases when not enough iron is taken for the spindle and horns, and therefore, when forging, in order not to make these parts thinner, they are forged weakly.

The paw is made up of three layers, welded into one. Each layer is prepared from three puddling pieces weighing from 3 1/2 to 5 pounds, connected into one layer. Thus, for the casting of one paw, iron is taken from 35-40 pounds, and after preparing the paw, its weight turns out to be about 30 pounds; the missing weight is waste. The work of the paw is done in the course of eight vars or more.

The horn and paw are joined together by boiling in two furnaces and forging under a steam hammer, after which a complete horn weighing up to 90 pounds is obtained. So, when applying the paw, there was a burn in the gland of 3-5 pounds. Usually, the footnote with the horn should follow in two vars, but this is not always possible and a third var is often required, but more vars cannot be given for fear of burning the paw and the thin part of the horn, called the boletus.

About 45 pounds of strip iron are taken on a chain bracket, and the package made from it is boiled in an oven and drawn into a round grade, leaving the ends of a square shape. In order to make thickenings in which holes could be punched through which a bolt should be inserted through the anchor, bars are welded to the square ends of the prepared iron from two opposite sides, and then, to give these places the agreed shape, they are supplemented with planks from above and below. In this way, the ears of the brace are formed. After that, by means of a bend, a bracket of the required shape is obtained, but only in a rough form, and it weighs up to 25 pounds. This job requires at least thirty vars.

The bolt is forged from puddling pieces, which take about eight pounds, and according to forging it weighs 572 pounds. It takes up to six vars to forge a bolt.

The spindle, horns, bracket and bolt, forged rough under a steam hammer, enter the anchor forges for finishing, which consists in bringing them more precisely to the established dimensions, in giving them the agreed shape and in preparation for a strong connection with each other.

So, at the spindle, first of all, they trim the sheima. To do this, they give it 15-20 vars, depending on whether it is necessary to put strips on it when it is forged thinner, or you can bring it to the proper size and shape even without strips. Then the shoulders (nuts) are welded for the wooden stock. Up to eight pounds of iron is taken on the shoulders, and in order to weld and trim them to the measure, they give ten vars and the same number of heatings, or the so-called idle vars. The first vars are necessary in the case when you need to remove excess metal or weld the strips, and the second - when the matter is limited only to straightening the spindle. Varov is given about ten.

After straightening, smoothing or burnishing begins, for which the spindle is slightly heated and the scale is knocked off it with balds (two-handed hammers weighing from 7 to 10 pounds), and then ironed with light hammers, and at least ten heatings are also made.

For horns, first they bring the horn to measure and then trim it and the paw, so. The kick horn comes out from under the steam hammer with an uneven, thick and very often imperfectly welded paw, and often it is incorrectly applied to the horn or is narrow, short, wide, long. To correct such a variety of errors, first of all, they give up to eight vars and with the help of them they cut off excess iron on the horn, then, in order to align the boletus, they heat the horn 4-5 times; after that, up to eight vars are needed for straightening the paw and for welding it, where, finally, it will be necessary to cut off excess metal into the paw or to weld the missing metal to it in the form of planks, it takes up to 14 vars and then, although the horn and paw have received the proper forms and sizes, but in this state the horn cannot yet go into a footnote with the spindle, it has a rather rough appearance and weasel (the wedge-shaped drawn thick end of the horn) is not fitted to the spindle lock.

Thus, it is necessary to give a paw with a boletus up to 20 more heatings in order to iron them; moreover, often there are either blisters or deep captives on the paw, both of which are cut down and filled with planks, and for such work again vara are needed. After the paw, the toe of the horn is finished off. At the same time, three vars are given when the toe is moderately and well welded, and more vars - if it requires welding with strips or significant trimming of excess metal. Fitting the caress of the horn against the spindle spike is done on welding furnaces, at the steam hammer before the anchor is removed. When the spindle and both horns are ready, proceed to the footnote.

The footnote of the spindle with horns is performed in one step. To do this, the ends of both horns and the spindle, which should be connected into one whole and make up the anchor gate, are laid in three welding furnaces. When all three parts have heated up to the proper var, they are taken out of the furnaces on cranes under a steam hammer and put on the anvil, first the caress of one horn, and on it the thorn of the spindle and then the caress of the other horn, while trying to bring all three parts into mutual agreement as accurately as possible. a position corresponding to the shape of the anchor, the upper horn being cut shorter than an inch by two, in so far as the hammer, striking it directly, lengthens it more than the lower horn. After that, they let the hammer go to the highest rise and rush to strike more often in order, as the blacksmiths say, to beat the var. When the master sees that the upper horn is well welded with the spindle spike, they stop the hammer fight and, raising the anchor, place an iron gasket under the caress of the lower horn and again start the hammer, which presses the tip of the lower horn against the gasket with blows and thereby promotes proper welding.

After that, they start cutting off the excess metal in the collar and at the same time try to bring the horns with the spindle to their normal position, which could be disturbed during forging, and then the anchor is taken to the furnace for final finishing. Anchor bearing at 270 pounds lasts more than a quarter of an hour. Agree, you need to be able to conscientiously perform such an important and cumbersome work.

The anchor that entered the forge is in an unenviable state: the place where the connection of the horns with the spindle (gate) followed, represents deep cracks, cavities or unnecessary elevations of metal; the horns are not in the same plane with the spindle, and their outer contour does not make up that part of the circle that should be formed with a radius equal to 0.37 of the length of the spindle. In addition to these inevitable shortcomings, it often turns out that both the spindle and the horns in the places adjacent to the gate have become much thinner as a result of the strong wars given to them before the removal of the anchor - in a word, they are burned. In order, in such a, one might say, miserable state of the future symbol of hope that came to the forge to give it both a fortress and a decent appearance, a lot of time, labor and costs are required; and, out of necessity, the tedious work begins.

First, the horns and the spindle are straightened, they are bent, pulled, twisted, twisted, and when, finally, these parts along their width are combined with each other in the same sectional plane and the extra contour of the horns, although only partially, will be introduced into the orbit of a normal curve, then, content with and with this, they begin to lay the slats, which achieves the goal of giving the anchor an appearance.

For the 270-pound Parker anchor, the straps are used in various sizes (from 4 pounds to 4 pounds), depending on where they are placed. Thus, heavy planks are mainly placed in the gate and in the places adjacent to it, when these places are either burned or finely forged; smaller strips are placed in the mice, on the forehead, on the horns and on the spindle, according to the amount of missing metal that should be replenished. In general, it is very inconvenient to apply planks to the forehead, in the lobes, in a word, in those places where blacksmiths have to hammer vary from the side, which is why often, where it was enough to put one plank in 3-4 pounds, impose three or four planks of a smaller size and, of course , for each of them in the same place they give successively the anchor vars.

Thus, it should not seem an exaggeration if for Parker's 270-pound anchor, iron is used for planks, up to 80 pounds and up to 20 days of time, during which the anchor in its various parts and mainly near the gate and on the horns is given at least one hundred and twenty strong vars. not to mention the weak ones. It is boring and annoying to follow this endless patching. Indeed, what is the proper name for such an ungrateful job?

No matter how carefully the slats are superimposed, after all, after them, it is necessary to remove excess metal in some places; this also requires at least thirty vars, and by the way, riveting is also performed.

During riveting, the anchor is heated red-hot, and the hammers are moistened with water. Water, evaporating, repels, as the anchor masters say, welded strips, as a result of which captivity is formed; the latter are cut down and again those places are welded with planks. Of course, captivity is formed in places where the edges of the planks are not welded to the anchor; water can penetrate through such cracks and there it is transformed into steam, and by the force of the latter, the thin parts of the planks will be raised. When riveted, the number of vars extends to 20.

Riveting ends the long torment of the anchor. But gloss for the anchor is necessary when entering into the light. In fact, at the end of the riveting, the anchor in decent condition is taken out of the gloomy factory to the yard to the place of the test; here a bracket and a bolt are fitted to it.

The final finishing of the staple requires up to four vars, and then it weighs 22 pounds.

The finishing bolt weighs 3 pounds 30 pounds; it takes two pitches to finish it. It seems that everything that needs to be said about the fabrication of Votkinsk anchors.

The forged anchor was subjected to several tests. The purity of the finish was checked by heating to a dark cherry color, when all the imperfections of the forging show through. Then the anchor was tested for impact - dropped onto an iron plate from a height of 12 feet. If he passed this test, he was hung up and beaten with seven-pound hammers. At the same time, clean ringing sound testified that the forging is dense and there are no shells and cracks in it. If the anchor passed the test, a brand was stamped on it. Now it was necessary to deliver the manufactured and tested anchor to the place of its service - Black Sea Fleet.

Ready-made anchors were loaded onto row barges and floated down the Kama River, and then along the Volga to the village of Perevoloki. There, the anchors were reloaded from barges to shallow-draught barges, and barge haulers dragged them along the tributary of the Volga, the Kamyshinka River, to the source of the Ilovlya, which flows into the Don. Here winter set in, and anchors were carried along the first path on huge sledges for as much as fifty versts. In the spring, when the rivers opened up, the anchors fell into the Don basin, and only then into the Azov and Black Seas. In Sevastopol or Nikolaev, oak stocks were attached to them.

Now it was necessary to distribute the anchors among the ships. After all, one ship needs an anchor of one weight, and another - another.

In addition to various simple formulas of a purely empirical nature, which have already been discussed, in the middle of the last century, the Russian navy used a rule derived from comparing the weight of anchors with the dimensions of the ships of the Russian, English and French fleets. The length of the ship between the perpendiculars was multiplied by its largest width with the skin, and the resulting product was divided by a certain number. It was: for three-deck ships - 40, two-deck - 41, frigates - 42, corvettes - 45, brigs - 50, tenders and schooners - 55, large transports - 45, medium and small transports - 50.

Rice. 48. Russian names anchor parts

The resulting quotient showed the weight of the anchor in pounds. So, for example, the length of the three-deck battleship "The Twelve Apostles" - one of the largest battleships Russian fleet - on the gon deck was 211 feet and 9 inches, the width with sheathing was 58 feet and 6 inches. The product was 12599.125. This number, divided by 40, showed the weight of the anchor in pounds - 314. The length of the ship "Rostislav" according to the gon deck was 197 feet and 4 inches, the width with the sheathing was 57 feet. The product of 11,246, divided by 41, showed the weight of the anchor - 274 pounds. In fact, on the ship "The Twelve Apostles" the anchors weighed from 283 to 330 pounds, and on the "Rostislav" from 264 to 278 pounds. If the shipyard did not have an anchor calculated by weight, then it was allowed to take an anchor a few pounds more or less, namely, for anchors from 300 to 120 pounds, an increase of up to 9 pounds was allowed, and a decrease in weight - up to 6 pounds. If the weight of the calculated anchor was less than 120 pounds, then the actual weight of the anchor could be 6 pounds less and 3 pounds more than its calculated weight. What is the weight of the largest Admiralty anchor made by Russia? The heaviest Russian anchors of this type currently adorn the Admiralty building in Leningrad. They were forged in 1863 by the blacksmiths of the Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant for the battleships Admiral Sviridov, Admiral Chichagov and General-Admiral.

Considering the enormous difficulties associated with the manufacture of large anchors, it can be argued that the cost of "symbols of hope" some one hundred years ago was prohibitively high. Here is one curious fact taken by us from the book "The first continuation of the review of foreign voyages of the ships of the Russian navy in 1868-1877", volume II, published in St. Petersburg in 1879 (p. 143):

"Although the month of April is considered in Table Bay best time years, however, heavy rains and fresh winds almost did not stop. On April 2, 1874, at two anchors, with her yards loose, the clipper "Horseman" experienced a severe storm that blew in the SO quarter. The chimney was raised, the furnaces charged and the boilers filled with water. When at 1/2 7 o'clock in the evening the ploughing rope burst at 83 fathoms, they immediately began to make pairs, and at 1/4 8 o'clock the machine was already ready for action. The proximity of the merchant ship standing behind the stern did not allow to poison the daglix rope, which was only 38 fathoms on the hawse, and the incessantly flying squalls, interspersed with calm, acted on the rope in the highest degree destructively, pulling it out, then weakening it again. At 1/2 2 o'clock in the morning another rope burst at 18 sazhens; then immediately, giving full speed to the machine, the clipper went to sea, where it kept under steam and sail until the next half day. Arriving at the roadstead, we received a 100-pound anchor sent from the shore with 120 fathoms of a 2-inch rope (1/2 inch thicker than a clipper), hired with the assistance of our consul for the entire stay of the clipper in Table Bay for 160 pounds. Having no anchors and no longer relying on their ropes (at least in the local roadstead), the commander was forced to accept the sent anchor with a rope for the safety of the ship, despite the high price. Having anchored in the same place, at the first opportunity they began to raise their anchors and ropes, which was successfully completed three days later.

Before moving on to the next chapter, let's clarify the names of the parts of the anchor. established in the time of Peter I and partially forgotten or distorted in our time. These names are given in Fig. 48: spindle (handguard), horn, paw, toe of the horn, collar (forehead), heel, mouse, nuts (shoulders), stock, yoke, sheima, eye, ear - these are the original Russian marine names. They were used by both blacksmiths and sailors. True, at the end of the last century, such an "improved" name of the anchor part as "trend" (collar or forehead) got into Russian books on marine practice. This name came into our marine language from English (trend - bend, bend). Nevertheless, this term has stuck with us.

It would seem that you can tell about the anchor? The simplest, at first glance, design. But he plays a huge role in the life of the ship. The main task of the anchor is to securely tie the ship to the ground, wherever it may be: on the high seas or near the coast. A motorboat or a yacht, a cruise liner or a multi-ton tanker - safe movement on the sea for any vessel depends on the reliability of the anchors.

Anchor structures have evolved over hundreds of years. Reliability, ease of use, weight - each parameter was tested in practice by the sea itself, counting nautical miles. Most anchors have common names: admiralty, ice, plow, cats. But there are anchors named after their creators. Among the inventors of reliable structures, the following names sound: Hall and Matrosov, Danforth, Bruce, Byers, Boldt.

"Anchor chains ring in the port ...", or the ship's role of the anchor

The anchor must provide safe parking, boats or yachts in the roadstead and on the high seas. In addition, the anchor plays a huge role in solving other problems:

• Restricts the vessel's mobility during mooring to another vessel or berth in case of unfavorable conditions. weather conditions, strong current, carrying out loading operations.
• Allows you to make a safe turn in a limited space (for example, in a narrow harbor).
• It can quickly extinguish inertia and stop the ship when a collision threatens.
• Helps to refloat the vessel by the crew.

Parts of the anchor structure (chains, fairleads) are sometimes used for towing.

Situations when an anchor is used can be divided into two groups.

The first group is for emergency use: in situations where the anchor must hold the ship at the maximum value of the wind force and sea waves.

The second group is for everyday use: during a short stop in good weather

Anchor structure

The bow of the ship is the place where the anchor device is located. An additional anchor structure is installed at the stern of large-capacity vessels, icebreakers and tugboats. This design includes a chain or rope itself, a chain box, a device with which anchor chains are attached to the ship's hull, a hawse, a stopper, as well as a capstan and windlass, with which the anchor is released and raised.

And what does the anchor itself consist of, in the steel paws of which is the safety of the ship, crew and passengers on board?

An anchor is a special structure (welded, cast or forged) that sinks to the bottom and holds the vessel with a rope or rope. It consists of several elements:

A spindle (longitudinal rod) with an anchor bracket in the upper part - with the help of this bracket, the anchor is attached to the chain;

Paws and horns that are fixed or hinged to the spindle.

For anchors with a rod, a transverse rod is installed in the upper part of the spindle, which enhances the holding force.

Anchor structures: purpose, type

By appointment, ship anchors are:

• Auxiliary: anchors, verps, drek, cats, ice. The role of auxiliary anchors is to help anchormen in certain situations: when boarding and disembarking passengers, loading and unloading, to refloat the ship, to keep the ship at the edge of the ice field.
• Stanovoe: there should be 3 of them on each ship (2 in hawse, 1 on deck).

According to the method of soil sampling, they are divided into two groups.

One group includes anchors that take the soil (i.e., burrow into it) with one paw. First of all, this includes the Admiralty anchor.

Another group includes anchors that take the soil with two paws: the anchors of Hall, Byers, Boldt, Gruson-Hein, Matrosov.

Anchors must meet the following criteria:

• strength;
• fast return;
• good soil intake;
• easy separation from the ground when lifting;
• convenient fasteners in the "stowed" position.

One of the most important criteria is a large holding force, that is, the maximum force, measured in kilograms, under the influence of which the anchor will not leave the ground and will be able to keep the ship "on a leash".

Anchor-"Admiral"

The Admiralty anchor can rightly be considered a veteran among ship anchors. This is perhaps the only representative of designs that have a stock. Despite the fact that it has been replaced by more modern and reliable models, it still fulfills its ship role in the fleet. This is due to the versatility of the design.

The structure of the Admiralty anchor, proven over the centuries, is laconic: the fixed legs and horns are cast or forged together with the spindle and form a single whole with it, without additional mechanical elements. The stem is wooden or metal. Its task is to help the quick intake of soil and the correct orientation of the anchor clinging to the bottom.

The design itself folds compactly: the rod is placed along the spindle, and in modern models paws can also be folded. This simplifies the storage and transportation of the anchor during a voyage.

The advantages also include a large holding force (its coefficient is 10-12), which is higher than that of many "brothers" with the same weight.

"Admiral" is able to cope with any soil: he is not afraid of either large stones, among which his "colleagues" often get stuck, or the insidious compliance of silt, or the thickness of underwater algae.

The disadvantages of the naval old-timer include bulkiness and volume, laboriousness in handling - this leads to the fact that it is troublesome to mount it in the stowed position and cannot be quickly given away. The anchor is forged from iron with strict requirements for the quality of material and workmanship - this leads to its high cost.

The rod often fails: the iron one bends, and the wooden one is damaged by mollusks, it is fragile and short-lived.

When immersed in the ground, one paw sticks out, representing a threat to ships in shallow water, and the anchor chain can catch and tangle on the horn protruding above the ground.

In 1988, the Englishman Hall patented an anchor named after him. This anchor is also considered a naval veteran, only stockless. The design consists of a spindle and two legs, cast together with the box.

The paws in this design are unusual: they have a flat shape, swing and can turn on the axis.

The box and paws are weighted with tides with thickenings in the form of shoulder blades. Their task is to turn the paws, forcing them to go into the ground to a depth that can be 4 times the length of the paws themselves. This is especially important if the ground is weak and you need to dig deep to reach a solid foundation.

The indisputable advantages of the Hall anchor are considered to be a sufficiently large holding force, fast recoil (it can be given on the go, moreover, this method of recoil even helps to deepen the paws as much as possible) and convenient cleaning in the hawse.

In shallow water, it is not dangerous for other vessels, since the paws lie flat on the ground, tangling the anchor chain or rope around the paws is excluded.

The disadvantages of the design include the unreliability of fastening the anchor on soil of a heterogeneous composition in the event of a torque or during parking in an open roadstead when the wind direction changes or a strong current, when the anchor begins to creep in jerks. In this case, with a strong jerk, the anchor jumps out of the ground, and then deepens again thanks to the shovels, which have time to heat the mound from the ground. This is due to the too large distance between the paws. In addition, the hinge box can jam when sand or small pebbles are collected in it.

When retracting into the hawse when cleaning the anchor, the paws cannot always take the necessary position on their own due to the not very good location of the center of gravity.

This anchor is one of the most modern designs with increased holding power. Created by the Soviet engineer I. R. Matrosov in 1946, he absorbed the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages inherent in the paws of two types of anchors: with fixed paws (such as the Admiralty one) and with swivel ones (Hall's anchor).

The design of the anchor is as follows: spindle, paws, side rods, anchor bracket.

In the Matrosov system, wide swivel paws are almost close to the spindle and are so close to each other that during burrowing into the ground they begin to work like one big paw. The area of ​​each of them is larger than in other anchor structures. Together with the paws, a stem with lateral tides is cast. The rod is displaced upwards with respect to the axis of rotation of the spindle. Its task is to protect the anchor from capsizing and increase the holding force, plunging into the ground along with the paws.

The advantages of the design are stability when dragged along the ground, a large holding force even on soft sandy-silty soils and in stones, relatively low weight and ease of retraction into the hawse during harvesting. When the ship turns 360 0, it keeps confidently.

The design also has its drawbacks. On dense ground initial stage deepening the anchor is unstable. If the paws are twisted out of the ground, they do not enter the ground again, and the anchor continues to crawl. The space between the paws at the spindle is so narrow that it is often clogged with soil - this does not allow the paws to deviate freely.

Production

The Matrosov anchor is available in two versions:

• welded (welded paw)
• cast full-weight (cast paw)

The technical standard for the Matrosov anchor is GOST 8497-78. It is used for anchors that are used on surface ships, ships and inland watercraft.

Specifications and parameters are determined by the mass (weight of the anchor)

Welded anchor

Matrosov's welded anchor is made of stainless steel or steel with an anodized or paint coating weighing from 5 to 35 kg.

Anchors covered with paint require additional care (derusting and painting), as the paint is quickly peeled off by the ground. The anodic coating is more resistant, but is also subject to physical impact when in contact with the ground. The most resistant of welded structures are anchors welded from stainless steel.

cast anchor

Cast Matrosov anchors are made in weight from 25 to 1500 kg.

They are usually cast from cast iron and coated with anodic coating or paint.

Anchor Matrosov cast in a prototype version was successfully tested on sea fishing vessels in operational conditions. Its advantages over the Hall anchor were indisputable.

And which one is better?

Considering big variety ship anchors, it is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of which design is better.

However, numerous tests to determine the magnitude of the holding force on various types soil showed that the anchor of Matrosov is 4 times greater than the Admiralty and Hall with equal mass.

The anchor is effective for use on inland navigation vessels, river vessels, boats and yachts. On ships, its use as an auxiliary is practiced.

For thousands of years, the anchor has been and remains an integral part of every ship. Except for the biblical ark and the legendary Flying Dutchman, then we are unlikely to find a ship without an anchor. In our time, the absence of even a safe anchor, not to mention those that are supposed to be in hawse, according to international rules, does not give the ship the right to go to sea. We are so used to this word that we don’t even think about its origin. Whether it was born in the depths of our language or was it borrowed! The opinion of the readers of our magazine on this issue differs. We think that it will be interesting for readers to get acquainted with two points of view on the origin of the term "anchor" in Russian.
Here is what the marine painter L. Skryagin claims in his book "Anchors".

ANCHOR, WHICH itself, when pulled by a rope, turns over onto a horn, was invented in the East 2 thousand years BC. e. Such anchors, first made entirely of wood, and later with lead rods, became widespread in the Mediterranean basin. But who was the first to make them out of iron?

The ancient Greek writer Pausanias (II century) claims that the first two-horned iron anchor was forged by the Phrygian king Midas (VII century BC). The Greek poet and musician Arian (7th century BC) says that in the temple of the goddess Phase he saw the stone and iron anchors of the Greeks. The Roman writer Pliny the Younger (62-114) considers the Greek Eulampius the designer of the iron anchor, and he attributed the invention of the iron anchor, the horns of which had paws at the ends, to the ancient inhabitants of Etruria. The famous Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BC) reports that the inventor of the first iron anchor with a stock was a Greek scientist, a Scythian by origin, Anacharsis, who in the second half of the 7th century. BC he moved to Greece. Historian Polydor Virgil Urbinsky in his book “Of Books on the Inventors of Things” (Moscow, 1720) writes: “The anchor was invented by the people of Turin. Evlampy also made a two-horned anchor. The well-known English historian of shipbuilding, a sailor by profession and an outstanding poet, William Falconer, in his Nautical Dictionary, published in London in 1769, considers both Eulampius and Anacharsis to be the inventors of the iron two-horned anchor.

As you can see, the opinions of historians differ. However, one thing can be said: the iron anchor appeared somewhere in the 7th century. BC e., most likely in the second half of it. The Greek Eulampius, the Scythian Anacharsis, and King Midas of Phrygia could have been its inventor. The place of appearance of the first iron anchor can be considered the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, where it quickly spread among the sea peoples who lived on its shores. Recall that the role of this sea for ancient civilizations was exceptionally great. And of paramount importance for the ancient cities, which, according to the figurative expression of Cicero, “are located around the Mediterranean Sea, like frogs around a pond,” were maritime trade and shipbuilding associated with it. That is why the spread of the iron anchor, the development and improvement of its design took place in this basin - the cradle of Western shipbuilding and navigation.

The iron anchor became the main product of the first blacksmiths, along with the plowshare, sword, and axe.

The very word "anchor" can rightfully be considered international. Here is how it is spelled and pronounced in several modern European languages: Italian - an coga (anchor); French - an sge (anker); English - anchor (anchor); Spanish - ancla (ancla); German - anker (anchor); Norwegian - anker; Danish - anker; Swedish - ankare (ankar); Dutch - anker (anchor); Finnish - ankkuri (ankuri).

A very similar spelling and sounding of this word is striking, the common root “ank” is felt. Philologists attribute the word "anchor" to the number of words borrowed by these languages ​​from ancient Greek or Latin, which once again confirms that the birthplace of the iron anchor is the Mediterranean basin.

The ancient Greeks called the iron anchor the word "ankur a" - "ankura", derived from the root "ank", which in Russian means "hook", "curved" or "curved". Thus, the word "ankura" can be translated into Russian as "having a curvature" or "having a curvature." Who knows, maybe the first iron anchors really looked like big hooks!

From the ancient Greek "ankura" the Latin word "anchora" was formed, which later passed to other languages ​​\u200b\u200bof Ancient Europe. The English language of the Anglo-Saxon period borrowed the word "an cor" directly from ancient Greek. And in ancient German the word "anch ag" is found, the spelling of which indicates its belonging to the Latin language.

In the Russian language, the word "anchor" migrated from ancient Greek. In the Old Russian language, the Greek form "ankura" is found, which later turned into "anchor".

The well-known Russian linguist I. I. Sreznevsky in his book “Thoughts on the History of the Russian Language” says that the term “anchor” is considered to have been transferred to us by the Varangians, but it could also be borrowed from the Lithuanians, “whom the gods forged themselves“ encurls ”. Serbs and Croats have the word "jekap".

AT writing the word "anchor" is first mentioned in Russian in the annals of Nestor "The Tale of Bygone Years"- in the oldest of the written monuments of the history of our Motherland that have come down to us. It says that under the terms of the peace treaty dictated by Oleg to the Greeks in 907, the Russians, among other tributes, were to receive flour food, anchors, tackle and sails for their fleet. In the annals of Nestor, it sounds like this: "... yes, they eat ... brashno and anchors and snakes and sails."

The word "anchor" has long been used in old Russian Pomor proverbs and sayings: “Faith is my anchor”, “The language of the body is an anchor”, “Wherever the boat roars, but the anchor will be” etc. This word is also found in many Russian epics. So, for example, in one of them, about Vasily Buslaev:

"And they cast strong anchors,

From the bow - anchor,

From the stern - another.

To stand stronger.

He didn't stagger."

"Salt, hemp and wax" - we remember these words from school. This is an uncomplicated list of goods that Ancient Russia traded. Later, bread, timber, furs and flax were added to them. We are so accustomed to considering old Russia an agrarian power that we are sometimes surprised: really, long before Peter I, Russia exported iron to the foreign market, and iron, which was famous throughout Europe? It was taken in strips and in the form of products: axes, plowshares, etc. The anchors included in this list, made of "bog iron", were famous in the same way as Russian sables. An unacceptable mistake is made by those historians who believe that, they say, metallurgy in our country began to develop since the time of Peter. The Russians knew how to make iron long before him, and as for iron anchors, they were undoubtedly forged even before the baptism of Russia. This is evidenced by many exhibits collected by local historians, folk epics tell. The emergence of anchor production in Russia is lost in the mists of time.
Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan, Gorodets, Voronezh, Lodeynoye Pole, and many cities of the Urals were once famous for their anchor masters. For example, the anchor craftsmen of Yaroslavl and Vologda forged about a hundred "large two-horned anchors" for the ships of the sea flotilla, built on the orders of Boris Godunov for sailing in the Arctic Ocean.
It is sometimes believed that at one time Tula was famous for anchors. This is mistake. In Tula, they never forged anchors. She is famous for thinner and more elegant forgings. In 1667, when Russia was building its first big ship for sailing along the Volga and the Caspian Sea, the Tula craftsmen refused to forge anchors for him. Blacksmiths in the village of Dedinovo, where the Eagle, a three-masted sailboat 24.5 m long, was built, also said that they themselves did not know how to do this, and the only anchor master in the village was busy making a tongue for the Big Assumption Bell. Blacksmiths called from Kolomna also did not agree to forge anchors, and the craftsmen had to be sent from Kazan. It was they who made two large anchors with rods and four cat anchors for the Orel.
Even before Peter the Great, anchor production was widely developed on the banks of the Volga. For centuries, this craft flourished in the Nizhny Novgorod province. From the travel notes of Russian academicians of painting G.G. and N.G. Chernetsov, who made a trip along the great Russian river one hundred and twenty-five years ago, we learn that anchors were made mainly in Gorodets:
“Gorodets used to be a city and the residence of the princes of Gorodetsky and even had its own bishops. Now it is only a significant village. forge one anchor up to twenty thousand poods.
The domestic shipbuilding that unfolded under Peter I, as a result of which Russia received 895 ships, led to the rapid development of blacksmithing. Peter personally established strict rules for testing the iron produced in the country. And soon Russian metal had no equal in quality all over the world.
Anchors for the ships of the Azov fleet, built by Peter in Voronezh, were forged by blacksmiths gathered from all over Russia. By a special decree, Peter forbade them to forge any products other than those related to the fleet, and ordered the monasteries to pay for their work. The forges of the first Russian breeders - Demidov, Butenat, Naryshkin, Borin and Aristov - also had to supply anchors. Later, "state-owned iron factories" were established in the Novgorod and Tambov provinces, and exploration work began to identify iron ore deposits near Lake Ladoga.
Anchors for the first frigates of the Peter's fleet, which were built in 1702 on the Svir and Pasha rivers, were forged in Olonets (Lodeynoye Pole). The iron obtained from the Olonets "bog ore" was valued in Europe on a par with the famous "Swedish iron" and was famous for its flexibility, good malleability and extreme toughness. In addition, it was easily welded: the clean surfaces of two pieces of iron, heated to the appearance of sparks, were combined into one mass from a hammer blow or strong pressure. And this property is important. Here is a good example. Anchors for the ships of both Kamchatka expeditions of Bering-Chirikov (1725-1742) had to be carried across Siberia on reindeer. Since such a load turned out to be beyond the strength of a fragile animal, the horns were beaten off from the anchors ready for shipment. Parts of the anchor were transported through Siberia separately, and already on the Pacific coast, in temporary forges, the horns were again welded to the spindle. Wooden rods were made, of course, from improvised materials on the spot.
Such anchors made of "swamp iron" were many times stronger than English ones, because in Russia charcoal was placed in the furnace for making iron, and puddling furnaces were heated with firewood. In England, for the manufacture of iron in the furnace, coal and coke containing sulfur and phosphorus were used, which reduced the quality of iron. The Russian two-weld iron used for the manufacture of anchors was superior in quality to the English three-weld iron. Under the blows of the hammer, the "swamp iron" was well riveted, and with the next heating-annealing, its former softness was easily restored. The fact that Russian anchors were in great demand abroad can be judged from many documents of the time of Peter the Great. Here, for example, is a letter from the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vasily Dolgorukov, to Peter I dated March 8, 1718:
"... There are ship anchors here in Your Majesty's shops, with which the painting is embedded; there are also cannon machines and buckshot. And since I do not have a decree to sell, I will order to put buckshot and anchors as much as possible on the Yehudiel ship" and I will send them to St. Petersburg, and I will wait for Your Majesty's decree when I get them.His Majesty's Naval Commissioners, the King of Denmark, traded those anchors with me and told me that they had such a need for them that several ships would not be able to go to sea for them. I refused to sell them and said that without a decree I dare not ... ".
The heaviest anchors for large ships of the Russian fleet were then made in Izhora, where the Admiralty Plants were founded in 1719 by Peter's decree. Forging hammers at these factories were driven by water mills.
The high demands Peter made on the quality of the material going to the anchors can be judged by his decree "On testing at iron factories", sent out in April 1722 by the Bergcollegium "to all iron factories where iron is made." In fact, this is a law on mandatory rules for testing and subsequent branding of iron. The first test of strip iron, invented by the king, consisted in the fact that an iron strip was wound around a pillar six inches in diameter dug into the ground. This operation was repeated three times (in different directions), after which the strip was inspected, and if it did not show signs of destruction, stamp No. 1 was stamped on it. If the iron withstood, stamp No. 2 was stamped on it. On strips that did not withstand either the first or second test, they put stamp No. 3. The sale of strip iron without these marks was strictly prohibited. To oversee the blacksmiths, Peter established a position - "commissar of iron work." Peter's decree on the testing of iron, despite the primitiveness of the samples, marked the beginning of the struggle for the quality of the metal on a national scale.
Other decrees of Peter associated with anchor production have also been preserved. One of them, dated January 17, 1719, reads in part:
"... send good two people from the anchor tenants, one to the lower Gorodets volost, where there is a large anchor factory, the other to Tikhvin as a master, and with them one blacksmith, and give them a spot with such a decree that no one will have any anchors sold without their spots, and that they would establish this business in both places.
Peter himself was a good blacksmith. Arriving to inspect the Istets factories, he forged eighteen poods of iron with his own hands in a day. He always treated blacksmiths with great attention and care. For example, when he learned that Maxim Artemiev and his apprentice Gavrila Nikiforov were considered the best anchor craftsmen in the Nizhny Novgorod province, he immediately issued an order to transfer both to the Voronezh shipyard. The first was appointed an anchor master with an annual salary of 12 rubles, and the second - as an apprentice with a salary of 10 rubles. At that time it was a lot of money. In addition, they also received "daily and fodder", that is, in modern language - "per diem". And when the construction of the Azov fleet was completed, they were first sent "to anchor business" to the private iron factories of Butenat, and from 1706 they forged wonderful anchors at the Petrovsky factory.
We learn about the technology of manufacturing anchors in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century from the "Regulations on the management of the Admiralty and the shipyard", issued by Peter on April 15, 1722. "Anchors should be made according to the prescribed proportion of good iron, and look firmly so that the rods are firmly and tightly bound with good iron before they are put into the forge." When heated in the hearth, it was prescribed to carefully ensure that the metal "neither burnt, nor coldly removed, so that it would be tightly welded everywhere and there would be no lack of brewing." The same conditions had to be observed both "in welding the horns to the spindle", and during the "beating on the anvil".
From the anchor master, Peter demanded not just "to manage the work with diligence and good skill," as from other blacksmiths, but "great diligence and extreme art." The anchor master was especially reminded that it was he who should answer if the ship's accident occurred due to the anchor breaking: "Because the whole integrity of the ship consists in what he should give an answer if that is done by negligence."
Under Peter, anchors were subjected to a severe test of strength. The new anchor was first raised to the height of the spindle and thrown with the heel onto the cast-iron beam, then, raising the anchor to the same height, it was again thrown down with the eye and, finally, sideways, in the middle of the spindle, on the gun barrel. If the anchor withstood these three throws, a special mark was stamped on it. Such a test of anchors by throwing became traditional in Russia and remained almost until the end of the last century. Here is how it was carried out in the thirties of the last century at the Ural factories:
"... Anchors to touch it by the ring that has a forearm with a rope and thread that rope into the block that was made for the iron described above, and lifting it up to the very block, lower it, without holding it, onto a cast-iron bar or board three times. And if it resists, then incise on it to the master, where it is made, and the number of the present year and its master and managerial, who, with one sample of the incident, name and weight and the letter P, which means that it has been tried, and give it to the treasury by notch And if the samples do not stand, but show a break or laceration, they should not be accepted, but ordered to be corrected properly, and after correction, the packs should be tried against the above and, according to the sample, given to the treasury. not to give anything, for they are guilty of doing it properly at once."
In 1963, an old anchor was raised from the bottom of the sea in Ilyichevsk. In addition to the factory brand, the following inscriptions have been preserved on it: Andrey Krotov, Ivan Cherkasov, Alexander Moskvin, Matvey Tyurin. In all likelihood, the first name is the name of the anchor master, the second is the forge manager, the last two are the names of the witnesses who were present when the anchor was tested for strength.
The above excerpt is from the chapter "The Case of Anchors, Hammers, Clamps and Other Things" of the book "Description of the Ural and Siberian Plants". The author of this book is Georg Wilhelm de Gennin (1676-1750), a Dutchman from Amsterdam who has been in the Russian service since 1698. He was an outstanding engineer and metallurgist of his time. He managed the Ural factories for twelve years and was one of the best experts in the mining and metallurgical business of the 18th century. No wonder Academician M.A. Pavlov once called this book an encyclopedia of mining and metallurgy in Russia.
In Russia, since the time of Peter the Great, every ship of the line has been supplied with five anchors. The largest and heaviest, usually the right back, was called a plecht. The second largest, the left one, is a dagliksom, the third is a bay. It was kept stowed under the second crumball behind the daglix, on the port side of the ship. The fourth anchor was called the mooring. It was a spare anchor, and they kept it in the hold behind the mainmast. The spindle of this anchor was fastened to the beam, and the paws were buried in stone ballast. The mooring rod, so that it does not interfere with loading into the hold, was laid flat on the bottom flooring. The fifth largest anchor was called toy; it was fastened in a marching manner, like bays, but on the right cheekbone of the ship behind the plecht. In addition to these five anchors, Russian sailing ships could have several verps, the heaviest of which was called a stop anchor.
In the "Explanatory Marine Dictionary" by V. V. Bakhtin, published in St. Petersburg in 1894, there is the term "babai". So in the Astrakhan province they used to call the largest anchor on a seaworthy vessel.
"KING-ANCHOR"
In the middle of the last century, the most reliable anchors in the world were those that were forged in the Urals at the Botkinsky, Serebryansky and Nizhneturinsky plants. Yegor Petrovich Kovalevsky, a mining engineer, a progressive public figure and a brave explorer, became interested in the production of Ural anchors. In 1836, while still being the bergeymester of the Ural gold mines, he, together with the engineer Noskov, began to study the technology of manufacturing anchors at the Gornoblagodatsky factories. Having described in detail the process of production of anchors at various factories in the Urals, Kovalevsky came to the conclusion that this process is incomparably simpler and better than in England. Later, he proposed a number of improvements to the administration of the Ural factories, which further improved the quality of products and reduced their cost.
The weight of the Ural anchors often exceeded five tons. The largest battleships of the Russian fleet were supplied with them, the best metal was taken for their forging, they were made by the best craftsmen, they withstood the most severe test of all that ever existed in the history of metallurgy. Each anchor made in those years in the Urals rightfully deserves the name "Tsar Anchor", and the few anchors that have survived to this day should be installed on a pedestal as monuments to the remarkable skill of Russian blacksmiths.
At the same time, we note that the Tsar Cannon never fired, and the Tsar Bell never rang, while the Ural anchors served the Russian fleet for a long time and faithfully under Lazarev, Ushakov and Nakhimov.
In order to give the modern reader an idea of ​​how much work it took a hundred years ago to make an anchor for a battleship, we will cite an excerpt from an article by D. Leontiev, an engineer at the Botkin Plant. It was published over a hundred years ago in the Naval Collection, No. 5, Volume XXVIII, 1865.

"When assembling the spindle for a 270-pound anchor, the strips are placed four in a row: three 4 1/2 inches wide and one 3 1/2 inches wide, while the width of the row will be 4 1/2 + 4 1/2 + 4 1 / 2 + 3 1/2 \u003d 17 inches. There are eleven such rows in the spindle assembly. And since the thickness of the strip iron for a 270-pood anchor is 1 1/8 inches, the thickness of the assembly will be about twelve inches. The seams of each row overlap with the strips of the next row and for this, strips 3 1/2" wide are laid one in a row, now on the right, then on the left side. The length of the assembly (package) is 11 feet 4 inches.
The package assembled for the spindle weighing about 250 pounds, with the end, which is subsequently processed into a sheima, is inserted into the welding furnace. He is given a pitch so strong that it is possible to compress the heated part of the package until the strips that make up the assembly are tightly connected to each other. In this order, the package is boiled and crimped to the middle, after which the bag is wrapped and placed in the oven with the other end, and crimping is also carried out from it to the middle. Of course, due to the uneven elongation of the strips during crimping, the middle of the package becomes convex, and the mutual position of the strips must change, and in order to equalize their length, it is necessary to heat the middle and slightly compress it, and then give a strong boil to boil the strips and connect them into one whole, and from excessive pitch, and sometimes two, the middle of the package burns significantly and comes out thinner.
Thus, to crimp the entire package, you need to lay it in the oven for heating nine to ten times and bring it under the hammer for crimping the same number of times.
When crimping the first half of the package, it is easy to see, by the volume of the crimped place, whether enough iron was taken for the spindle, and if not, then at the other end, before giving it a pitch, wedges of strip iron are stuffed. Sometimes such wedges are hammered with up to thirty pounds.
Crimping pitches give the highest, or, as the masters say, cruel, in order to thoroughly boil the inside of the assembly at the very beginning. If, however, you do not give strong pitches, and thereby do not contribute, if possible, to a close connection of the strips into one whole, then subsequently, when the spindle is forged, it will certainly split, crack along the length, and then nothing remains but to fix the cracks with planks, and this tool is only suitable for the species.
Crimping is followed by forging; it starts from the middle and goes to the ends. Vars are given high. Of course, the blacksmith observes that the spindle is forged to the specified dimensions in length and thickness. The forged spindle for the 270-pound Parker anchor is five feet longer than its assembly and thinner by one-third of the cross-sectional area of ​​the same assembly. The weight of the spindle is only 165 pounds. Consequently, weight loss eighty-five pounds in a frenzy.
For the horns, the assemblies are made of the same iron that was taken for the spindle, and the strips are also arranged in rows in width and thickness, only the packages are made shorter, namely, four and a half feet for a 270-pood anchor; the weight of such an assembly is about 90 pounds.
Of course, the crimping of a package with its small length is performed from two or three vars, but forging to the dimensions determined for the horn is carried out with the assistance of nine vars.
When forged, the length of the horn with weasels extends up to eight feet, and the weight is 65 pounds.
At first, when the method of making Parker anchors was introduced at the Botkinsky factory, the assembly of the horn was given a wedge-shaped appearance, suitable for the shape of the finished horn, but such an assembly represents unnecessary work, which could not be avoided, as long as the anchor parts were forged under light hammers; when a steam hammer of 4 1/2 tons was installed, the same horns began to be forged from a prismatic assembly, now used at the Botkin plant.
In the forging of the horns, the same procedures and precautions for the actual welding of the strips constituting the assembly are observed, as have been calculated above for the welding of the spindle.
It is not uncommon to see on separate horns and spindles the seams between the stripes that make up the assemblies; this usually happens in those cases when not enough iron is taken for the spindle and horns, and therefore, when forging, in order not to make these parts thinner, they are forged weakly.
The paw is made up of three layers, welded into one. Each layer is prepared from three puddling pieces weighing from 3 1/2 to 5 pounds, connected into one layer. Thus, for the casting of one paw, iron is taken from 35-40 pounds, and after preparing the paw, its weight turns out to be about 30 pounds; the missing weight is waste. The work of the paw is done in the course of eight vars or more.
The horn and paw are joined together by boiling in two furnaces and forging under a steam hammer, after which a complete horn weighing up to 90 pounds is obtained. So, when applying the paw, there was a burn in the gland of 3-5 pounds. Usually, the footnote with the horn should follow in two vars, but this is not always possible and a third var is often required, but more vars cannot be given for fear of burning the paw and the thin part of the horn, called the boletus.
About 45 poods of flat iron are taken on a chain bracket, and the package made from it is boiled in a furnace and drawn into a round grade, leaving the ends of a square shape. In order to make thickenings in which holes could be punched through which a bolt should be inserted through the anchor, bars are welded to the square ends of the prepared iron from two opposite sides, and then, to give these places the agreed shape, they are supplemented with planks from above and below. In this way, the ears of the brace are formed. After that, by means of a bend, a bracket of the required shape is obtained, but only in a rough form, and it weighs up to 25 pounds. This job requires at least thirty vars.
The bolt is forged from puddling pieces, which take about eight pounds, and according to forging it weighs 572 pounds. It takes up to six vars to forge a bolt.
The spindle, horns, bracket and bolt, forged rough under a steam hammer, enter the anchor forges for finishing, which consists in bringing them more precisely to the established dimensions, in giving them the agreed shape and in preparation for a strong connection with each other.
So, at the spindle, first of all, they trim the sheima. To do this, they give it 15-20 vars, depending on whether it is necessary to put strips on it when it is forged thinner, or you can bring it to the proper size and shape even without strips. Then the shoulders (nuts) are welded for the wooden stock. Up to eight pounds of iron is taken on the shoulders, and in order to weld and trim them to the measure, they give ten vars and the same number of heatings, or the so-called idle vars. The first vars are necessary in the case when you need to remove excess metal or weld the strips, and the second - when the matter is limited only to straightening the spindle. Varov is given about ten.
After straightening, smoothing or burnishing begins, for which the spindle is slightly heated and the scale is knocked off it with balds (two-handed hammers weighing from 7 to 10 pounds), and then ironed with light hammers, and at least ten heatings are also made.
For horns, first they bring the horn to measure and then trim it and the paw, so. The kick horn comes out from under the steam hammer with an uneven, thick and very often imperfectly welded paw, and often it is incorrectly applied to the horn or is narrow, short, wide, long. To correct such a variety of errors, first of all, they give up to eight vars and with the help of them they cut off excess iron on the horn, then, in order to align the boletus, they heat the horn 4-5 times; after that, up to eight vars are needed for straightening the paw and for welding it, where, finally, it will be necessary to cut off excess metal into the paw or to weld the missing metal to it in the form of planks, it takes up to 14 vars and then, although the horn and paw have received the proper forms and sizes, but in this state the horn cannot yet go into a footnote with the spindle, it has a rather rough appearance and weasel (the wedge-shaped drawn thick end of the horn) is not fitted to the spindle lock.
Thus, it is necessary to give a paw with a boletus up to 20 more heatings in order to iron them; moreover, often there are either blisters or deep captives on the paw, both of which are cut down and filled with planks, and for such work again vara are needed. After the paw, the toe of the horn is finished off. At the same time, three vars are given when the toe is moderately and well welded, and more vars - if it requires welding with strips or significant trimming of excess metal. Fitting the caress of the horn against the spindle spike is done on welding furnaces, at the steam hammer before the anchor is removed. When the spindle and both horns are ready, proceed to the footnote.
The footnote of the spindle with horns is performed in one step. To do this, the ends of both horns and the spindle, which should be connected into one whole and make up the anchor gate, are laid in three welding furnaces. When all three parts have heated up to the proper var, they are taken out of the furnaces on cranes under a steam hammer and put on the anvil, first the caress of one horn, and on it the thorn of the spindle and then the caress of the other horn, while trying to bring all three parts into mutual agreement as accurately as possible. a position corresponding to the shape of the anchor, the upper horn being cut shorter than an inch by two, in so far as the hammer, striking it directly, lengthens it more than the lower horn. After that, they let the hammer go to the highest rise and rush to strike more often in order, as the blacksmiths say, to beat the var. When the master sees that the upper horn is well welded with the spindle spike, they stop the hammer fight and, raising the anchor, place an iron gasket under the caress of the lower horn and again start the hammer, which presses the tip of the lower horn against the gasket with blows and thereby promotes proper welding.
After that, they start cutting off the excess metal in the collar and at the same time try to bring the horns with the spindle to their normal position, which could be disturbed during forging, and then the anchor is taken to the furnace for final finishing. Anchor bearing at 270 pounds lasts more than a quarter of an hour. Agree, you need to be able to conscientiously perform such an important and cumbersome work.
The anchor that entered the forge is in an unenviable state: the place where the connection of the horns with the spindle (gate) followed, represents deep cracks, cavities or unnecessary elevations of metal; the horns are not in the same plane with the spindle, and their outer contour does not make up that part of the circle that should be formed with a radius equal to 0.37 of the length of the spindle. In addition to these inevitable shortcomings, it often turns out that both the spindle and the horns in the places adjacent to the gate have become much thinner as a result of the strong wars given to them before the removal of the anchor - in a word, they are burned. In order, in such a, one might say, miserable state of the future symbol of hope that came to the forge to give it both a fortress and a decent appearance, a lot of time, labor and costs are required; and, out of necessity, the tedious work begins.
First, the horns and the spindle are straightened, they are bent, pulled, twisted, twisted, and when, finally, these parts along their width are combined with each other in the same sectional plane and the extra contour of the horns, although only partially, will be introduced into the orbit of a normal curve, then, content with and with this, they begin to lay the slats, which achieves the goal of giving the anchor an appearance.
For the 270-pound Parker anchor, the straps are used in various sizes (from 4 pounds to 4 pounds), depending on where they are placed. Thus, heavy planks are mainly placed in the gate and in the places adjacent to it, when these places are either burned or finely forged; smaller strips are placed in the mice, on the forehead, on the horns and on the spindle, according to the amount of missing metal that should be replenished. In general, it is very inconvenient to apply planks to the forehead, in the lobes, in a word, in those places where blacksmiths have to hammer vary from the side, which is why often, where it was enough to put one plank in 3-4 pounds, impose three or four planks of a smaller size and, of course , for each of them in the same place they give successively the anchor vars.
Thus, it should not seem an exaggeration if for Parker's 270-pound anchor, iron is used for planks, up to 80 pounds and up to 20 days of time, during which the anchor in its various parts and mainly near the gate and on the horns is given at least one hundred and twenty strong vars. not to mention the weak ones. It is boring and annoying to follow this endless patching. Indeed, what is the proper name for such an ungrateful job?
No matter how carefully the slats are superimposed, after all, after them, it is necessary to remove excess metal in some places; this also requires at least thirty vars, and by the way, riveting is also performed.
During riveting, the anchor is heated red-hot, and the hammers are moistened with water. Water, evaporating, repels, as the anchor masters say, welded strips, as a result of which captivity is formed; the latter are cut down and again those places are welded with planks. Of course, captivity is formed in places where the edges of the planks are not welded to the anchor; water can penetrate through such cracks and there it is transformed into steam, and by the force of the latter, the thin parts of the planks will be raised. When riveted, the number of vars extends to 20.
Riveting ends the long torment of the anchor. But gloss for the anchor is necessary when entering into the light. In fact, at the end of the riveting, the anchor in decent condition is taken out of the gloomy factory to the yard to the place of the test; here a bracket and a bolt are fitted to it.
The final finishing of the staple requires up to four vars, and then it weighs 22 pounds.
The finishing bolt weighs 3 pounds 30 pounds; it takes two pitches to finish it. It seems that everything that needs to be said about the fabrication of Votkinsk anchors.

Rice. 47. The shape of the horns and paws of the Ural anchor

This is how anchors were made a hundred years ago. Hell of a job! Such work really required "great diligence and extreme skill," to use the words of Peter's "Regulations." And the anchor masters of the Urals were virtuosos of their craft. Behind the dry, but precise presentation of D. Leontiev, one can feel all the tension of a very long and hard physical labor in smoky forges near puddling furnaces and horns full of heat. We can safely say that in the range of forging products of the last century there is no thing that would be made with such diligence and attention as an anchor. On fig. 47 shows the shape of the horns and paws of the Ural anchor.
The forged anchor was subjected to several tests. The purity of the finish was checked by heating to a dark cherry color, when all the imperfections of the forging show through. Then the anchor was tested for impact - dropped onto an iron plate from a height of 12 feet. If he passed this test, he was hung up and beaten with seven-pound hammers. At the same time, a clear, sonorous sound testified that the forging was dense and there were no shells and cracks in it. If the anchor passed the test, a brand was stamped on it. Now it was necessary to deliver the manufactured and tested anchor to the place of its service - the Black Sea Fleet.
Ready-made anchors were loaded onto row barges and floated down the Kama River, and then along the Volga to the village of Perevoloki. There, the anchors were reloaded from barges to shallow-draught barges, and barge haulers dragged them along the tributary of the Volga, the Kamyshinka River, to the source of the Ilovlya, which flows into the Don. Here winter set in, and anchors were carried along the first path on huge sledges for as much as fifty versts. In the spring, when the rivers opened up, the anchors fell into the Don basin, and only then into the Azov and Black Seas. In Sevastopol or Nikolaev, oak stocks were attached to them.
Now it was necessary to distribute the anchors among the ships. After all, one ship needs an anchor of one weight, and another - another.
In addition to various simple formulas of a purely empirical nature, which have already been described, in the middle of the last century, the Russian navy used a rule derived from comparing the weight of anchors with the dimensions of the ships of the Russian, English and French fleets. The length of the ship between perpendiculars was multiplied by its greatest width with sheathing , and the resulting product was divided by a certain number. It was: for three-deck ships - 40, two-deck - 41, frigates - 42, corvettes - 45, brigs - 50, tenders and schooners - 55, large transports - 45, medium and small transports - 50.

Rice. 48. Russian names of parts of the anchor

The resulting quotient showed the weight of the anchor in pounds. So, for example, the length of the three-deck battleship "The Twelve Apostles" - one of the largest battleships of the Russian fleet - according to the gon deck was 211 feet and 9 inches, the width with the skin was 58 feet and 6 inches. The product was 12599.125. This number, divided by 40, showed the weight of the anchor in pounds - 314. The length of the ship "Rostislav" according to the gon deck was 197 feet and 4 inches, the width with the sheathing was 57 feet. The product of 11,246, divided by 41, showed the weight of the anchor - 274 pounds. In fact, on the ship "The Twelve Apostles" the anchors weighed from 283 to 330 pounds, and on the "Rostislav" from 264 to 278 pounds. If the shipyard did not have an anchor calculated by weight, then it was allowed to take an anchor a few pounds more or less, namely, for anchors from 300 to 120 pounds, an increase of up to 9 pounds was allowed, and a decrease in weight - up to 6 pounds. If the weight of the calculated anchor was less than 120 pounds, then the actual weight of the anchor could be 6 pounds less and 3 pounds more than its calculated weight. What is the weight of the largest Admiralty anchor made by Russia? The heaviest Russian anchors of this type currently adorn the Admiralty building in Leningrad. They were forged in 1863 by the blacksmiths of the Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant for the battleships Admiral Sviridov, Admiral Chichagov and General-Admiral.

Considering the enormous difficulties associated with the manufacture of large anchors, it can be argued that the cost of "symbols of hope" some one hundred years ago was prohibitively high. Here is one curious fact taken by us from the book "The first continuation of the review of foreign voyages of the ships of the Russian navy in 1868-1877", volume II, published in St. Petersburg in 1879 (p. 143):
“Although the month of April is considered the best time of the year in Table Bay, nevertheless, heavy rains and fresh winds almost did not stop. "The chimney was raised, the fireboxes were charged and the boilers filled with water. When at 1/2 7 o'clock in the evening the plecht rope burst at 83 fathoms, they immediately began to breed steam, and at 1/4 8 o'clock the machine was already ready for action. The proximity of the standing behind the stern of a merchant ship, she did not allow to poison the daglix rope, which was only 38 fathoms on the hawse, and the incessantly flying squalls, interspersed with calm, acted on the rope in the highest degree destructively, now stretching it, then again weakening it. another rope burst at 18 fathoms, then immediately, giving full speed to the car, the clipper went out to sea, where it kept under steam and sail until the next noon. 120 fathoms of 2-inch rope (1/2 inch thicker than the clipper), hired with the assistance of our consul for the duration of the clipper's stay in Table Bay for 160 pounds. Having no anchors and no longer relying on their ropes (at least in the local roadstead), the commander was forced to accept the sent anchor with a rope for the safety of the ship, despite the high price. Having anchored in the same place, at the first opportunity they began to raise their anchors and ropes, which was successfully completed three days later.
Before moving on to the next chapter, let's clarify the names of the parts of the anchor. established in the time of Peter I and partially forgotten or distorted in our time. These names are given in Fig. 48: spindle (handguard), horn, paw, toe of the horn, collar (forehead), heel, mouse, nuts (shoulders), stock, yoke, sheima, eye, ear - these are the original Russian marine names. They were used by both blacksmiths and sailors. True, at the end of the last century, such an "improved" name of the anchor part as "trend" (collar or forehead) got into Russian books on marine practice. This name got into our maritime language from of English language(trend - bend, bend). Nevertheless, this term has stuck with us.