How many anchors did the Titanic have?

The Titanic had three anchors: two side anchors and one enormous centre anchor. The side anchors were housed in hawse pipes at the port and starboard bow, while the centre anchor rested in a special well on the forecastle.

The centre anchor was an extraordinary piece of marine engineering. It weighed roughly 15.5 tons and measured about 18 feet 6 inches long, making it one of the largest hand-forged anchors of its era. Noah Hingley & Sons of Netherton, England, manufactured Titanic’s anchors in 1911.

The centre anchor was added because the Olympic-class liners were so large that the usual pair of bower anchors was considered insufficient. It was handled with a dedicated crane and a wire hawser rather than the ordinary chain arrangement used by the side anchors.

A common mix-up is counting only the two anchors visibly fitted at the sides of the bow. Titanic’s full main anchoring arrangement included those two plus the centre anchor.