cable length

A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or 100 fathoms, or sometimes 120 fathoms. The unit is named after the length of a ship's anchor cable in the age of sail. The definition varies:

• International: ¹⁄₁₀ nautical mile, or 185.2 m
• Imperial (Admiralty): ¹⁄₁₀ Admiralty mile (608 feet, 185.3184 m), or 100 fathoms (600 feet, 182.88 m)
  • The traditional British fathom varied from 5½ feet to 7 feet in the Merchant Navy.
• U.S. customary (US Navy): 120 fathoms (720 feet, 219.456 m)

References

• Fenna, Donald (2002), "cable, cable length, cable's length", A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units, Oxford: University Press, ISBN 0198605226 . Also "fathom", from the same work.
• Navy Slang: Cable – Curry, Royal Navy, http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3807, retrieved 22 May 2009 .

See also

• Conversion of units