So in Sun Tzu's Art of war..........
it recommends during naval engagements, dropping anchor while at full steam ahead and hoping for the best.
Now why didn't the Royal Navy adopt this tactic?
dOn'T tELL hiM pIKe !..............
Didn't you know? Dropping anchor is just like braking in a a car, or an F-14 for that matter Indeed, if they were being pursued they could drop anchor to decelerate rapidly so that the ship behind sailed right past them and into their gunsights at 12 o'clock! (Source: Top Gun).
You can use the same tactic to come to a full stop when tailing a Russian nuclear submarine which suddenly perform a "crazy Ivan". However, because a ship that size doesn't exactly stop on a dime, it might drift into the back of them..(Source: The Hunt for Red October).