Editing Anchor (section)

{{short description|Device used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Anchoring|the cognitive bias|Anchoring effect}}
{{redirect|Boat anchor|the metaphor|Boat anchor (metaphor)}}
[[File:Kotwica SS Poznań.JPG|thumb|[[Stockless anchor|Stockless]] ship's anchor and chain on display]]
[[File:Amoco Cadiz anchor.jpg|thumb|Anchor of ''[[Amoco Cadiz]]'' in [[Portsall]], north-west [[Brittany (administrative region)|Brittany, France]]]]
[[File:Ankkuri Kirjurin kärjessä 1.jpg|thumb|Memorial anchor in [[Kirjurinluoto]], [[Pori]], [[Finland]]]]
[[File:Soldek098.JPG|thumb|Massive anchor chain for large ships.  The weight of the chain is vital for proper holding of the anchor.<ref>{{Citation
| title = Knights Modern Seamanship
| last =Noel
 | first = J V
|edition=18th
| pages =271
 | date =1989
| publisher = Wiley
| isbn =978-0-471-28948-7
 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ488peU_kgC&q=nights+modern+seamanship
| access-date =15 February 2024}}</ref>
]]

An '''anchor''' is a device, normally made of [[metal]], used to secure a [[Watercraft|vessel]] to the [[Seabed|bed]] of a [[body of water]] to prevent the craft from drifting due to [[Leeway|wind]] or [[Ocean current|current]]. The word derives from [[Latin]] ''{{Lang|la|ancora}}'', which itself comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Lang|grc|ἄγκυρα|italic=no}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|ankȳra}}).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110609184931/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/anchor anchor], Oxford Dictionaries</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29%2Fgkura ἄγκυρα], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref>

Anchors can either be temporary or permanent. Permanent anchors are used in the creation of a [[mooring (watercraft)#Permanent anchor mooring|mooring]], and are rarely moved; a specialist service is normally needed to move or maintain them. Vessels carry one or more temporary anchors, which may be of different designs and weights.

A [[sea anchor]] is a drag device, not in contact with the seabed, used to minimize drift of a vessel relative to the water. A [[drogue]] is a drag device used to slow or help steer a vessel [[Point of sail|running]] before a storm in a following or overtaking sea, or when crossing a bar in a breaking sea.