how many cables in a mile?

Answer 1

A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure. The unit is named after the length of a ship's "cable" made of hemp as defined by the Royal Navy. The definition also takes into account if it was a rope or hawser laid cable. The cable length also led to the development of the shackle length by the Royal Navy which was 15 fathoms in 1949 which comes from the number of links/shackles in a length of chain. The definition of the cable varys; the following are a number of them:

Common definition: 1/10 nautical mile, i.e. 185.2 m for international nautical mile, was used with other precise definitions of the nautical mile as well.
"Ordinary" definition: 100 fathoms (600 feet), i.e. 182.88 m.
US Navy definition: 120 fathoms (720 feet), i.e. 219.456 m.
Royal Navy definition: 1/10 Admiralty nautical mile, 608 feet, i.e. 185.3184 m.
Finland: 1/10 nautical mile (185.2 m) is called a kaapelinmitta (cable's length). One thousandth of a nautical mile (1.852 m) is called syli (fathom), though it is only very rarely used.

185.2 meters = 0.115077945 miles
182.88 meters = 0.113636364 miles
219.45600 meters = 0.136363636 miles
185.3184 meters = 0.115151515 miles

Answer 2

Here's some information I found:


1 fathom = 6 feet
100 fathoms = 1 cable length
10 cables length = 1 nautical mile
1 nautical mile = 1.151 statute miles (length of a minute of longitude at equator)
3 nautical miles = 1 league
1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 1.151 statute miles per hour
10 chains = 1 furlong = 201.17 meters
60 nautical miles = 1 degree of a great circle of earth (latitude)
1 statute mile = 5280 feet
1 nautical mile = 6076.115 feet

So if a cable = 100 fathoms and a fathom = 6 feet, then a cable = 600 feet.

You want to convert that into how many cables in a mile. That means how many 600s are there in 5,280 feet. 5280/600 = 8.8.

So, there are 8.8 cables per mile.

The answer would be different if you look at a nautical mile.

Answer 3

1 cable is one tenth of a nautical mile. A nautical mile is slightly dfferent to a standard mile, as it is a nice round number of 2000yards. Therefore a cable is 200 yards, and there are 10 in a mile.

Answer 4

10

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In 'modern' marine navigation (i.e. after 1900) we moved away from the 100 fathom cable and went to the one-tenth-of a-nautical-mile cable.

The nautical mile was defined as the length on Earth's theoretical surface subtended by an algle of one minute at Earth's centre. It began with a difference of one minute of latitude at greenwich, measured along the Greenwich meridian. It moved to the Equator.

It is now defined as a number of metres.

The metre also had the same kind of life, beginning as the 1/10,000,000 portion of the meridian going through Paris.

The km was the distance subtended by an angle of one centigrade (1/100 of a grade -- there are 400 grades in a circle instead of 360 degrees).

The metre is now defined as the distance that light travels in vacuum, in 1/ 299,792,458 of a second of time.


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In the USA, it could be 120 fathoms (720 feet = 219.456 m); I do not know why.

Answer 5

When I was at school in the late 60's we were taught 10 cables = 1 nautical mile.

Answer 6

10 in a nautical mile which is 2000 yards. Sailors still use cables as a nautical mile can never be made metric

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
how many cables in a mile?

Answer 8

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_length

Three out of 5 definitions there say 10 cables to a *nautical* mile.

Answer 9

10 cables to 1 nautical mile... Its a nautical term

Answer 10

If you mean chains,then there are 80.
100 links = 1 chain
4 rods = 1 chain
66 feet = 4 rods
25 links = 1 rod
1 link = 7.92 inches