In his June 17 diary, LIsoundview
Do you know jack about either cut or run? Wacked Metaphor from Bush made some interesting points about the old nautical term "cut and run," as it's now being beaten to death by the Cheney-Bush Administration. But Llsoundview's suggestion that cutting and running was almost always a smart thing to do is questionable.
Back in the days of wooden ships and iron men, anchors were vital pieces of equipment aboard all vessels. From time to time, however, a captain had to make the decision of whether or not to cut his anchor cable and get underweigh immediately--cutting and running.
As Llsoundview put it: "The strategy of 'cut and run' refers to cutting the anchor rope, raising sail, and sailing before the wind (running) to take the most direct course out of trouble... If you saw an enemy coming while you were at anchor you would also 'cut and run'. Check out all the paintings of naval battles. You will notice that in general, the ships are taking advantage of being under sail to out-maneuver the the enemy. They aren't just sitting at anchor, waiting for the enemy to take them out. And they aren't wasting time hauling up the anchor; they have gotten underway at once."
And he's mostly right. Except for the part about `wasting time hauling up the anchor.' Unless the situation was dire indeed, every captain took the time to weigh his anchor and properly stow it aboard. Because without an anchor, a sailing ship was extremely vulnerable, not to mention missing a vital tool for more jobs than coming to rest in a harbor. For instance, warships at anchor could rig what were called "springs" on an anchor that allowed the vessel's capstan and the crew's muscle power to be used to winch the ship's broadside around for accurate aiming. That way, an anchored ship was turned into a sort of mobile batter and was less of a sitting duck if attacked.
If a ship found itself becalmed in those pre-outboard days, the anchors (most ships carried at least two) were hauled, one at a time, to the end of their cables in small boats and dumped overboard. Then the crew winched the ship forward using that handy capstan (see above). The technique, called kedging, could get a ship moving, albeit pretty slowly, even without wind.
And anchors were crucial if a ship found itself unable to maneuver and being blown towards a dangerous, rocky shore or reef. Then, the only option was to anchor and try to ride out the storm. In 1588, the Spanish Armada, on its way to engage the British fleet, was at anchor in Calais harbor when the English under Sir Francis Drake set loose fireships among the anchored Spaniards. In order to escape being burned at their anchorage, the Spanish "cut and ran," leaving their anchors at the bottom of Calais harbor. Later, after getting whipped by Drake, Hawkins and the other English captains and when trying to make it back home by sailing around the coast of Ireland, many of those same ships were blown ashore and wrecked because they had no anchors to save themselves. It took the Spanish fleet years to recover.
So cutting and running was a calculated risk at the best of times, but one some captains were willing to take when the need arose. Like when they were in danger of being barbecued because of poor planning and worse tactics.