Editing Anchor (section)

=== Stockless anchor ===
{{main|Stockless anchor}}
[[File:Stockless anchor 1 NT.PNG|thumb|The action of a stockless anchor being set]]
The stockless anchor, patented in England in 1821,<ref name=Brit>"anchor" in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica|The New Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Chicago: [[Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.]], 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, pp. 377–8.</ref> represented the first significant departure in anchor design in centuries. Although their holding-[[power-to-weight ratio]] is significantly lower than admiralty pattern anchors, their ease of handling and stowage aboard large ships led to almost universal adoption. In contrast to the elaborate stowage procedures for earlier anchors, stockless anchors are simply hauled up until they rest with the shank inside the hawsepipes, and the flukes against the hull (or inside a recess in the hull called the anchor box).

While there are numerous variations, stockless anchors consist of a set of heavy flukes connected by a pivot or ball and socket joint to a shank. Cast into the crown of the anchor is a set of tripping palms, projections that drag on the bottom, forcing the main flukes to dig in.