Wiktionary
cable length
n. One tenth (1/10) of a nautical mile.
WordNet
cable length
n : a nautical unit of depth [syn: cable, cable's length]
Wikipedia
Cable length
A cable length or ' length of cable' is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or approximately 100 fathoms. The unit is named after the length of a ship's anchor cable in the age of sail. The definition varies:
- International: nautical mile, or 185.2 m
-
Imperial ( Admiralty): 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)
Usage examples of "cable length".
It ran half a cable length behind the Ulysses, spent itself in the empty sea beyond.
A Force 6 and the plane's fuselage streamed out a cable length to the north-west.
Aft, about a cable length away, he could just distinguish two other ships, high-curving bow-waves piled whitely against tenebrious silhouettes.
He seemed to have no compass, and the world ended less than a cable length away in all directions.