What Is This Tool?
This unit converter helps you transform measurements from foot (ft), a standard imperial and U.S. customary unit of length, into the fathom as defined by the US survey system. The tool is designed for ease of use in maritime, hydrographic, and legacy surveying applications where such conversions are necessary.
How to Use This Tool?
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Enter the length value measured in foot [ft].
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Select 'foot [ft]' as the source unit and 'fathom (US survey) [fath]' as the target unit.
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Initiate the conversion to receive the length expressed in US survey fathoms.
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Review the result to assist with nautical or hydrographic calculations.
Key Features
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Converts foot [ft] to US survey fathom [fath] accurately using established conversion rates.
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Browser-based and straightforward interface suitable for quick length unit conversions.
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Supports users working with maritime and hydrographic data, aiding in nautical charting and marine engineering.
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Facilitates reconciliation of legacy survey data with modern length units.
Examples
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6 feet [ft] converts to exactly 1.000000 fathom (US survey) [fath].
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12 feet [ft] converts to exactly 2.000000 fathoms (US survey) [fath].
Common Use Cases
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Translating common land or architectural length measurements into nautical units for marine applications.
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Recording and interpreting water depths and soundings on historical hydrographic surveys or nautical charts.
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Specifying lengths of anchor cables, mooring lines, or sounding equipment in maritime operations.
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Converting legacy survey data from US survey units to integrate with modern metric or international-foot measurements.
Tips & Best Practices
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Confirm the unit systems used in your source data to avoid errors during unit reconciliation.
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Use this conversion tool primarily for marine, nautical, or legacy survey-related tasks, as the fathom unit is uncommon in typical land measurements.
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Be aware that the US survey fathom slightly differs from the international fathom in length definition.
Limitations
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The US survey fathom differs slightly from the international fathom, which may affect high-precision calculations.
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This conversion applies mainly within nautical, hydrographic, and legacy survey contexts and is generally not relevant for everyday land measurement tasks.
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Integrating data from different unit systems without careful verification may cause unit mismatch errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a foot (ft) used for?
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The foot is a unit of length used in the imperial and U.S. customary systems to express distances and heights in daily life, engineering, and surveying, including building dimensions and altitude measurements.
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Where is the US survey fathom (fath) typically used?
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The US survey fathom is primarily used in nautical and hydrographic contexts such as measuring water depths, anchor cable lengths, and converting legacy survey data.
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Why is it important to check unit systems during conversions?
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Verifying unit systems helps avoid errors when combining data from multiple sources, especially since the US survey fathom differs slightly from the international fathom.
Key Terminology
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Foot [ft]
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A unit of length in the imperial and U.S. customary systems, exactly 0.3048 metres, used for distances, heights, and various measurements.
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Fathom (US survey) [fath]
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A non-SI unit of length equal to 6 US survey feet, used mainly in nautical and hydrographic contexts to measure depths and line lengths.
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Conversion Rate
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The numerical factor used to translate a length value from one unit to another, such as 1 foot equals approximately 0.1666663333 US survey fathoms.