The fathom is a unit of length. It is used especially when talking about operating ships, to measure the depth of water. It is equal to two yards. The distance between a man's outstreched arms is about a fathom. By this definition, a statute mile is 880 fathoms long. According to the directive 80/181/EWG, one fathom is 1,829 meters long.One fathom is equal to:

• 1.8288 metres exactly (1 metre is about 0.5468 fathoms)
• 2 yards (1 yard is exactly 0.5 fathoms)
• 6 feet (1 foot is about 0.1667 fathoms)
• 18 hands
• 72 inches