What is a Fathom?
Contents
What is a Fathom ?
A Fathom is a measurements unit of length in the imperial and us customary system , mainly for measuring the depth of water.
Fathom is taken from the old English term “faethm” which means outstretched arms
1 Fathom = 6 Feet
1 Fathom = 1.8288 metres.(now which is standardized at 6 feet or 1.83 metres).
It is used mainly for measuring the depth of water.
What is unit of measure fathoms ?
Conversion Table
1 fathom = 6 feet
100 fathoms = 1 cable length
10 cables length = 1 nautical mile
Why is a fathom 6 feet ?
The fathom is the length we get when a person outstretched his arms apart from finger to finger tip.
The average arm span of any sailor was almost same of 6 feet hence it is called as a fathom
To measure depth of water a weight(lead bob) with line attached to it is dropped in sea till it hits the seabed.
A sailor will drop the lead bob attached with line into the sea slowly till he gets slack ,immediately he will stop giving further slack ,and will
pull the line all the way up , now he will read the marking on line to take the measurement.if there is no measurement on the line each pull can be counted.
What is Fathom ?
1 Fathoms = 6 feet
1 Fathoms is equal to
1 fathoms = 6 feet
100 fathoms = 1 cable length
How deep is 100 fathoms?
1 fathoms = 6 feet.
100 fathoms = 100 × 6 = 600 feet deep
How deep is 125 fathoms?
1 fathoms = 6 feet.
125 fathoms = 125 × 6 = 750 feet deep
Convert Fathoms to Feet
Fathoms to feet, meter, kilometer etc
What is fathoms line?
A fathoms line is usually a sinuous line on a nautical chart which joins all points having the same depth of water.
How deep is a league?
League is a unit of length but no longer in use
1852 nautical mile internationally
Related Article: Keel of a ship & Types of keel
Related Article:
Cargo Dues, Tonnage Dues and Port Dues
