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, or 608 ft (185.32 m), about 101 fathoms
- 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)
Famous quotes containing the words cable and/or length:
“To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.”
—Douglass Cross (b. 1920)
“Baltimore lay very near the immense protein factory of Chesapeake Bay, and out of the bay it ate divinely. I well recall the time when prime hard crabs of the channel species, blue in color, at least eight inches in length along the shell, and with snow-white meat almost as firm as soap, were hawked in Hollins Street of Summer mornings at ten cents a dozen.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
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