Fathoms to Feet Converter
Type a depth or length in fathoms and the converter shows feet immediately. One fathom is 6 feet, and the guide below covers the rule, the history and worked examples.
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Created by the Reeliy Editorial Team. Last updated: Oct 19, 2026
How many feet are in a fathom?
A fathom is 6 feet. Equivalently it is 2 yards, 72 inches, or 1.8288 meters when the international foot (0.3048 m) is used. The relationship to the foot is a fixed definition, so converting fathoms to feet involves no rounding at all.
1 fathom = 6 ft = 2 yd = 72 in = 1.8288 m1 ft = 1/6 fathom ≈ 0.16667 fathom.
The size is easy to picture: it is about the height of a tall person, or the span of a grown adult's outstretched arms, which is just how the unit began.
Fathoms and feet: what the units are for
The word fathom comes from the Old English fæðm, meaning an embrace or the reach of outstretched arms. Sailors adopted it for measuring rope and, above all, water depth, because a weighted line could be hauled in hand over hand and counted in arm spans. The call "by the mark, twain" of Mississippi riverboat leadsmen meant two fathoms of water under the boat.
Feet are the general-purpose imperial length. Many nautical charts, especially older or traditional ones, print soundings in fathoms, sometimes with an extra figure for feet, while the rest of a sailor's or diver's notes are in feet. Converting between them tells you, for example, whether a 5-fathom channel will clear a vessel that draws 24 feet.
How to convert fathoms to feet
feet = fathoms × 6
- Enter the depth or length in fathoms in the upper field.
- The feet figure shows in the lower field and updates as you type.
- By hand, multiply by 6. If you only have feet, divide by 6 to get fathoms.
Worked examples
A sounding. A chart marks 12 fathoms. 12 × 6 = 72 ft, which is about 21.95 m (12 × 1.8288).
A fraction. 2.5 fathoms is 2.5 × 6 = 15 ft.
An anchor line. If 7 fathoms of rope are paid out, that is 7 × 6 = 42 ft.
Reverse. A pier with 45 ft of water at the end has 45 ÷ 6 = 7.5 fathoms.
Fathoms to feet conversion table
| Fathoms | Feet (ft) | Meters (m) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 3 | 0.9144 |
| 1 | 6 | 1.8288 |
| 2 | 12 | 3.6576 |
| 3 | 18 | 5.4864 |
| 5 | 30 | 9.144 |
| 10 | 60 | 18.288 |
| 20 | 120 | 36.576 |
| 50 | 300 | 91.44 |
| 100 | 600 | 182.88 |
| 200 | 1,200 | 365.76 |
Rounding and related tools
The converter keeps four decimal places and drops trailing zeros, so 0.123456 fathom becomes 0.7407 ft. Because the factor is a whole number, whole and half-fathom inputs always give clean answers.
If you need metric depths, use the fathoms to meters converter. For other length steps in feet, see feet to meters and feet to yards, and browse the rest under distance converters.
Frequently asked questions
How many feet are in one fathom?
One fathom is exactly 6 feet.
How do I convert fathoms to feet?
Multiply the number of fathoms by 6. For example, 9 fathoms × 6 = 54 feet.
How deep is 10 fathoms?
Ten fathoms is 60 feet, or 18.288 meters.
Why are depths measured in fathoms?
Sailors historically sounded depth with a knotted or marked line, counting arm spans as it was hauled in. The fathom stayed on nautical charts and in maritime vocabulary because of that tradition.
References
- NIST Special Publication 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)
- International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959
Cite this converter and page
If you use this page in your work, you can cite it as:
Reeliy Editorial Team. (2026). Fathoms to Feet Converter. Reeliy. https://reeliy.com/converters/convert-fathoms-to-feet“Fathoms to Feet Converter.” Reeliy, 2026, https://reeliy.com/converters/convert-fathoms-to-feet.