Those big ropes

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
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What would happen if the ship tried to leave with the ropes still tied up? Would the ropes snap off?
 

neutralizer

Lifer
Oct 4, 2001
11,552
1
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Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
They'd probably hold, because the ship couldn't build up enough momentum to break them.

But what if I strapped like lots of jet engines or maybe Saturn V engines to it? ;)
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
If the ropes were very long then the ship could probably break them. B esides, it wouldn't take much for a pirate to cut them with his sword.

ARGHH maties! NONE OF YE WATERS ARE SAFE FROM THE LIKES OF US!!!!
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,154
58
91
Originally posted by: neutralizer
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
They'd probably hold, because the ship couldn't build up enough momentum to break them.

But what if I strapped like lots of jet engines or maybe Saturn V engines to it? ;)
Wouldn't matter....well, depends on how big the ship was.

Probably wouldn't matter what you strapped to a Carrier.

The question on a smaller ship would be, would the ropes break, or would the dock break?

 

BadNewsBears

Diamond Member
Dec 14, 2000
3,426
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Originally posted by: illusion88
If the ropes were very long then the ship could probably break them. B esides, it wouldn't take much for a pirate to cut them with his sword.

ARGHH maties! NONE OF YE WATERS ARE SAFE FROM THE LIKES OF US!!!!


Who cracks more necks, ninjas or pirates?
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
Originally posted by: BadNewsBears
Originally posted by: illusion88
If the ropes were very long then the ship could probably break them. B esides, it wouldn't take much for a pirate to cut them with his sword.

ARGHH maties! NONE OF YE WATERS ARE SAFE FROM THE LIKES OF US!!!!


Who cracks more necks, ninjas or pirates?

Pirates DUH!!
Although, ill admit, that if 5 nijas had the drop of 5 pirates, they would win. But in a fair fight, pirates would beat ninjas, because pirates know how to fight dirty.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
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fobot.com
they can break and when they do , people get cut in half

there is video somewhere of lines breaking, both nylon and hemp , they have different characteristics when they break, but both can be deadly

this is what they taught us in the navy, to be line handlers
As the line stretches, it will reduce its diameter by as much as 30 to 40 percent. Then the tow surges forward towing actually consists of pulling by jerks. Then the cycle starts over. The greatest danger in using synthetic fiber towlines is that if the line should part when under strain, it will snap back its full length like a bull whip. The force of the snapback is tremendous depending on the strain that the line was under at the time it parted. There is no set pattern on how the line will whip back. It may snap back directly on itself or it may whip from side to side. There is no way to tell what it will do. If you see a synthetic fiber line under strain parting or beginning to part--DO NOT RUN--just fall flat down on the deck.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/55-501/chap19.htm

as the throttleman on the submarine, we had to be sure to not spin the prop more than 10 tpm when warming up or maintaining the propulsion turbines before departure. a couple times when i did it , i put way on the ship, meaning i exceeded the 10 rpm limit and made the ship rock against the lines

our boat had One S8G nuclear reactor two geared steam turbines, one shaft, output of 60,000 hp , that is enough to snap mooring lines

this has some analysis
http://www.tensiontech.com/papers/papers/optimoor/optimoor.html

towing situations with tugs was more dangerous than while completely tied up to the pier though
 

AmphibSailor

Golden Member
Feb 15, 2002
1,399
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our boat had One S8G nuclear reactor two geared steam turbines, one shaft, output of 60,000 hp , that is enough to snap mooring lines

Guess you were a nuke on a Trident...


towing situations with tugs was more dangerous than while completely tied up to the pier though

I was on the Casimir Pulaski when this happened to us. IIRC. one of the guys on the tug was killed when one of the cleats gave way. The line snapped and hit him in the head. :(

 

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
Moderator
May 13, 2003
13,704
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I've seen small stuff (1/4" line) pull steel attachments from the deck, so 5" or 8" line would really rip stuff up. The bits on deck or the cleats on the pier would give way most likely. And I'd be damn sure to make sure none of my line handlers were near that sh!t when it happened.
 

sharkeeper

Lifer
Jan 13, 2001
10,886
2
0
LOL at this thread!

You know I've asked similar questions and get different answers. It really depends on a lot of things. Personally, I would want to stay as far away from the cleats and mooring decks as possible if something like this happened.

Most synthetic mooring line will stretch considerably. It's also pretty damn strong. In the case with a large ocean liner, you would probably flood the hell out of the dock from all the displacement.

I've thought about something I know would work. :evil:

Connecting a mooring line to a large SUV like an H2 and having it parked all the way on the other side of the cruise terminal. When the ship leaves, the line slack would obviously be taken up and this SUV would be dragged through rows of parked cars, fences, etc.

Hell even make an episode similar to Fear Factor where you give someone the keys and tell 'em if they can drive it away, they can have it! That would be a hell of a burnout! :laugh:

Cheers!
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Since some other sailors have already responded I wont go over it all again.

Hawser is a term applied to any line over a certain circumferance, not its purpose. I forget what the number is but its big. The only hawser we had on a cruiser was the towing hawser. Interestingly enough, its not the line or the chain that tows the other ship, its all the weight in the bowing of the chain that pulls it.
That bowing is called "caternary".

When I left the ship (USN) we had just gotten a bunch of Polyprophylene lines in. They wanted us to use them as regular mooring lines.
Dont know if that ever caught on or not.
 

JinLien

Golden Member
Aug 24, 2005
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It is more likely that the cleats would be pull off if there were enought force to break the lines.

 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,127
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Originally posted by: JinLien

It is more likely that the cleats would be pull off if there were enought force to break the lines.

That's what happens. (bollards pull out) Just a river current but moving water even only a few m/s is very powerful. Against basically a wall the size of 2 football fields+ is a lot of pull. Bollards are strong but the concrete around them is often weakened with pull and cannot hold against REAL force like that. World's largest slingshot?

Now sitting tight in a berth there is not much water to play with so even with 40 megawatts (two prop motors) it's just going to be like Niagara falls under the stern. Probably send lots of water over the pier! Think 40MW sump pump with no head pressure! -M

 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
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Originally posted by: illusion88
Pirates DUH!!
Although, ill admit, that if 5 nijas had the drop of 5 pirates, they would win. But in a fair fight, pirates would beat ninjas, because pirates know how to fight dirty.

ninjas are the epitome of fighting dirty...they attack from behind, use poison, all sorts of sneaky stuff.