Cable

A cable length is one-tenth of a nautical mile, 185.2 m, used for short ranges such as anchor-cable scope, distance off a mark, and bridge collision-avoidance work. It is the practical unit for close-quarters distances where a full nautical mile is too coarse. The historic Royal Navy cable was 200 yards (182.88 m) and the US Navy cable 720 ft (219.5 m); modern charts and pilots use the 185.2 m metric value tied to the 1,852 m nautical mile.