Can the handbrake be pulled directly to stop the ship, and can the anchor be thrown directly to stop the ship?

Why are they perpendicular to each other?

Because after the anchor is thrown into the water, it does not immediately pierce the seabed like an arrow, but needs to be plowed into the soil on the seabed to secure the ship. After the anchor is placed on the seabed, it will first "lie" on the seabed. At this time, the horizontal bar is lying down, so the anchor arm is standing. As long as the anchor chain drags the anchor horizontally, the anchor arm will plow into the seabed soil. The deeper the plow, the greater the resistance, and ultimately the ship can be fixed. ‌

Rod type ship anchors have been basically eliminated, and most ships now use rodless ship anchors.

Without a pole, how can we ensure that the anchor can smoothly plow into the seabed soil? The principle is actually very simple. The anchor arm and anchor rod of the rodless ship anchor are not fixed, but can move within a certain range. When the ship anchor is lowered to the seabed, the anchor chain begins to drag the ship anchor horizontally. At this time, because the anchor arm points forward, it will naturally form a downward trend. In addition, the resistance of the seabed soil will cause the anchor arm to further tilt downward during the movement, and then plow into the soil. ‌

It can be seen that whether it is the early pole anchor or the current rodless anchor, their principle of fixing ships is the same, with the focus on the lateral movement of the anchor on the seabed.

Once you understand this, the question naturally has an answer. The key to anchoring lies in the lateral movement of the ship anchor, and if the ship anchor is directly thrown during the movement of the ship, the anchor chain and the seabed are in a 90 degree relationship, so the ship anchor cannot achieve lateral movement on the seabed. It will only be dragged and bounced around by the ship on the seabed. Of course, this may bring a certain deceleration effect to the ship, but it is impossible to completely stop the ship by throwing the ship anchor. ‌

Anchors are used to secure ships and cannot be used for stopping them, but securing ships is not entirely due to the anchor itself. Anchor chains also play a crucial role in this process.

When lowering the ship anchor, the length of the anchor chain usually needs to reach three to five times the water depth. If encountering severe weather, it needs to be extended even longer. A long part of the anchor chain that is lowered will be buried in the sediment on the seabed, causing significant resistance due to friction, while another part will be suspended between the seabed and the ship. This part of the anchor chain can use its own gravity to store a large amount of energy and play an important auxiliary role in fixing the ship. So, the contribution of anchor chains may be greater than that of the ship's anchor itself in securing the ship. ‌