Existing comment:
The Capstan:
The object, that looks like a hub with spokes sticking out, is a capstan, a device that used human power to hoist the anchor or lift heavy spars. You see it in the upper left of the picture below, with marines applying their muscle power.
Below them, in a different perspective, are sailors tending the messenger, the continuous line that wraps around the drum of the capstan. To the far right is the anchor cable coming on board through the hawse hole. The cable, itself, is too thick to go around the capstan, so young boys (little nippers) "nip," or seize the messenger and cable together, then release them so that the cable can be stowed in the cable tier below. |