Open anchorage affording some protection, but less than a harbor
A roadstead or road[a] is a body of water sheltered from
rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where
ships can lie reasonably safely at
anchor without dragging or snatching.[3][4] It can be open or natural, usually
estuary-based, or may be created artificially.[5] In maritime law, it is described as a "known general station for ships, notoriously used as such, and distinguished by the name".[6]
Definition
A roadstead can be an area of safe anchorage for ships waiting to enter a port, or to form a convoy. If sufficiently sheltered and convenient, it can be used for the
transshipment of goods, stores, and troops, either separately or in combination. The same applies in transfers to and from shore by
lighters.[3][b]
In the days of sailing ships, some voyages could only easily be made with a change in wind direction, and ships would wait for a change of wind in a safe
anchorage, such as
the Downs or
Yarmouth Roads.
^Charts and nautical publications often use roads rather than roadsteads.[1]Roads is the earlier term.[2]
^ For example, in the Second World War, many merchant ships and many troops arriving at the UK were unloaded/disembarked from ships anchored at the
Tail of the Bank in the upper Clyde estuary.[7]
References
^Walker, George K. Definitions for the Law of the Sea: Terms Not Defined by the 1982 Convention. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012.
^Little, William; Fowler, H W; Coulson, Jesse; Onions, C T; Friedrichsen, G. W. S. (1983). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Volume II) (3rd ed.). London: Book Club Associates. p. 1838.