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)
“Rivers must have been the guides which conducted the footsteps of the first travelers. They are the constant lure, when they flow by our doors, to distant enterprise and adventure; and, by a natural impulse, the dwellers on their banks will at length accompany their currents to the lowlands of the globe, or explore at their invitation the interior of continents.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)