Sounding Lead
Description
Sounding lead with a hole at the top and a hollow base. XXV marked on one face.
The main object of a lead-line was to provide depth soundings in order to save the ship from going aground. The lead line was made of a hemp line and a lead weight. The lead was roughly conical in shape with a hollow bottom into which a lump of tallow could be pressed - an action known as ‘arming the lead.’ The tallow would pick up samples of the sea bottom to find out whether it was sand, mud, weed, rock or gravel. While underway, a seaman standing in the chains, at the ships side, hurled the lead forward so that it was near vertical as it struck bottom. The lead line was marked at intervals of one fathom using a system of knots or marks to determine depth ‘soundings.’ When a seaman took a sounding with the lead line he called out the depth of the water according to the mark on the line that was on or very near the surface of the sea when the lead reached the bottom.
See full details
Object Detail
Diameter: 69mm (2 11/16")
Weight: 1/4cwt (11.12kg)