The five most common types of anchors

1. Plough anchor

  • Designed in the 1930s by Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
  • Works like a plow in the field, hence the name plowshare anchor
  • Between the shaft and the cross it has a joint
  • Further developments without joint (Delta)

2. Plate anchor

Cropped image of a plate anchor.

  • Developed in the 1940s by Richard Danforth for the British military/navy
  • Very suitable for silt
  • Further development is the Fortress anchor with adjustable fluking angle

3. M-anchor

Cropped image of an M-anchor

  • Developed in the 1970s by Peter Bruce (also Bruce anchor) for anchoring oil platforms in the North Sea
  • Shaped like a claw
  • Easy to use, therefore widely used

4. Stirrup anchor

Cropped image of a stirrup anchor.

  • Developed in the 1980s by Rolf Kaczirek
  • Is equipped with a roll bar that allows the anchor to stand up on the seabed

5. Spade anchor

Released image spade anchor.

  • Developed in the 1990s by Alain Poiraud
  • The fluke is concave shaped, like a spade
  • Develops very large holding forces