Chain reaction?

 

Here's an interesting and impressive video showing how giant ship anchor chains are forged.

A lot of people assume that the flukes, or "hooks", at the end of an anchor chain is what holds a ship in place.  Actually, that's seldom the case.  They're there to allow the anchor to "dig in" to the seabed, which in turn enables the chain to pay out in approximately a straight line from that point back to the vessel deploying it.  Usually, what keeps a major vessel anchored is the sheer weight of anchor chain paid out by the ship.  If, say, the water depth is 50 feet, you might find ten, twenty or even more times as much anchor chain paid out, laid out along the sea bed to act as a living "brake" against the forces of wind and tide.  The part of the chain that curves up from the sea bed to the vessel acts as a shock absorber, lessening the direct strain of the ship on the chain lying along the sea bed.  That chain weighs so much that to overcome its inertia and move whatever is attached to it takes a great deal of effort.  Even so, a big enough force (say, a major storm) can certainly accomplish that - which is why so many ships put to sea if a big storm approaches, to ride it out at a safe distance from the land.

See for yourself how big those chains can be.  The video title mentions "warships", but chains this big would apply only to the largest of them (say, an aircraft carrier or amphibious assault vessel).  Even bigger ones will be used aboard supertankers, ultra-large container ships, etc.

Here's how the process works.

Impressive!

Peter