A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it.
Strikes
Timing of ship's watches
Unlike civil
clock
A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...
bells, the strikes of a ship's bell do not accord to the number of the hour. Instead, there are eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour watch. In the age of sailing, watches were timed with a 30-minute hourglass. Bells would be struck every time the glass was turned, and in a pattern of pairs for easier counting, with any odd bells at the end of the sequence.
Classical system
The classical, or traditional, system was:
Most of the crew of a ship would be divided into two to four groups, called
watches. Each watch would take its turn with the essential activities of manning the helm, navigating, trimming sails, and keeping a lookout.
The hours between 16:00 and 20:00 are so arranged because that watch (the "
dog watch") was divided in two. The odd number of watches aimed to give each person a different watch each day; it also allowed the entire crew of a vessel to eat an evening meal, the normal time being at 17:00 with first dog watchmen eating at 18:00.
Simpler system
Some "ship's bell" clocks use a simpler system:
Other uses
*Ship's bells are also used for safety in foggy conditions,
their most important modern use.
*On US naval vessels, bells additionally are rung as "boat gongs" for officers and dignitaries coming aboard or leaving the ship, in a number equivalent to the number of
sideboys to which the visitor is entitled.
*At midnight on
New Year's Eve, 16 bells would be struck – eight bells for the old year and eight bells for the new.
*When a sailor has died he or she can be honoured with the sounding of eight bells; meaning "end of the watch". The term "eight bells" can also be used in an
obituary, as a nautical
euphemism for ''finished''.
Markings on the bell
The ship's name is traditionally engraved or cast onto the surface of the bell, often with the year the ship was launched, as well. The earliest ship's bell was recovered from the wreck-site of a Portuguese armada ship off the coast of Oman. The bell was dated 1498.
Occasionally (especially on more modern ships) the bell will also carry the name of the
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
that built the ship. If a ship's name is changed, maritime tradition is that the original bell carrying the original name will remain with the vessel. A ship's bell is a prized possession when a ship is broken up
and often provides the only positive means of identification in the case of a
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...
.
Number of bells
Most
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
ships of the post–World War II era have actually carried 2 or 3 bells: the larger bell engraved with the ship's name, mounted on the forecastle, and smaller bells in the pilot house and at the quarterdeck at the
1MC (public address) station, for use in making shipwide announcements and marking the time. The larger bell on the forecastle is rung periodically as a fog signal when the ship is at anchor in reduced visibility.
Cook and boatswain
According to seafaring legend, the ship's
cooks and
boatswain's mates had a duty arrangement to give the cooks more sleep. The boatswain's mates, who worked 24 hours a day on
watches, would build the fire in the
stove, so the cook could get up a little while later and the fire would be already going so he could begin preparing
breakfast. In return, between meals, the cooks would shine the bell, which was traditionally the boatswain's mates' responsibility.
Baptizing children
It is a naval tradition to
baptize children using the ship's bell as a
baptismal font and to engrave the names of the children on the bell afterwards. Christening information from the bells held by the
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Museum has been entered into a searchable data archive.
See also
*
''Eight Bells'' (painting)
*
The Lutine Bell
*
Watchstanding
* ''
When Eight Bells Toll''
References
External links
The Ship's Bells: Telling Time on BoardBattleship New Jersey Museum
*
{{Bells
Bells (percussion)
Nautical terminology
Navies
Time signals
Time measurement systems