Talk:Ship's bell

A Watch's beginning

Sorry, I was wondering if anyone could clarify when exactly a watch began and ended - something that is not quite clear in the article. I.e. does the afternoon watch, for instance, start at 12.00 (immediately after the 8 bells) or at 12.30 (following the first bell), I would assume the former, but would appreciate confirmation by someone who actually knows. sakkout (talk) 09:49, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Ship's soul?

I had thought that a ship's bell also had significance as it's soul, with the bell continuing to ring through every emergency, and only ceasing as the ship was to be abandoned. I also seem to recall instances of the bells of wrecked ships being raised and preserved in cases when the wreck itself could not be recovered. Anyone who knows better than I want to comment? --Badger151 16:18, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

I've heard the same thing, but google's not helping Adambrowne666 07:23, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

You are right, Lloyds used to ring the Lutine bell, or "Bad news Bell" each time a ship was late or lost - the Lutine bell was recovered from the ship "Lutine" who sank with millions aboard her. —Preceding unsigned comment added by BellinghamBell (talk • contribs) 22:12, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, some ship's bells are returned to churches as a suitable resting place. See the Kent Bell (from HMS Kent) at Rochester Cathedral (England) for example.Martin of Sheffield (talk) 09:32, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

Last bell of the day

I know that as a ship sails east or west it's day becomes shorter or longer, respectively - this would make the last bell of the day either shorter or longer than the traditional thirty minutes. Does anyone have any comment on how this is dealt with - is the last set of eight bells struck at local noon or local midnight, dependng on when the day is supposed to change? If this is the case, it the timepiece used to calculate that half-hour (such as a half-hour glass) just not used to measure out that last period? --Badger151 16:18, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Traditionally I suppose ship's time is "reset" at noon, when a sighting of the sun would be taken. However it's worth remembering that any pre-chronometer timepieces - such as sand glasses - keep woefully bad time on a pitching ship. So the timing of all bells would be approximate at best; the few minutes a day gained or lost by circumnavigation wouldn't make much difference.When was a sextant first used on sailing ships?. And, therefore before the sextant how did sailors measure high noon and was high noon the means used to tell the local time and the ships sailed throught different longitudes. Can anyone help me?

These days, naval ships' time is updated constantly by GPS, so it's a non-issue. FiggyBee 06:54, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

It's not quite a non-issue as ship's time still needs to be adjusted by an hour every fifteen degrees or so and ships are manned 24 hours a day in two or three watches. When I crossed the Atlantic on a three-watch brig, the captain decided on which night the ship's time should change. The first, middle and morning watches were then adjusted by twenty minutes each. But we didn't sound bells.

I imagine that traditionally with two watches and the ship's time kept by chronometer, the adjustment would be thirty minutes on two watches. I wonder if nine bells were rung on a westward passage. --Zipperdeedoodah 17:38, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

What's a "naval ship"? Safebreaker (talk) 23:00, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

A ship of the water as opposed to an airship Mike H. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.185.149.61 (talk) 20:10, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

More helpfully it is a ship belonging to a country's navy as opposed to the merchant marine ABurness (talk) 23:01, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Possible Error in Traditional Watch Table?

I accessed this article to get info on the time of day pattern of ship's bells - thank you, it was very helpful. I am no expert on this subject, so I will not edit.

It appears from your text and the watch table's organization that the traditional watch table has the 18:30, 19:00 & 19:30 times for the last dog watch column shifted into the rows for first bell, two bells and three bells, instead of the rows for five bells, six bells, and seven bells. Jdavis1 (talk) 13:49, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Jdavis1, the table is in error. As a reference, consult the US Nay legacy site at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=212 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.135.81 (talk) 06:08, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

I have always understood that both dog watches ring 1-2-3-8, not 1-2-3-4 and 1-2-3-8 as shown in the table. Unfortunately I can only find US sites which are less reliable since they use a different system for the dog watches (1-2-3-4 and 5-6-7-8). Can anyone cite a reliable reference? My source was my late father who served in the RN in the 1940s. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 09:37, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

Bells aboard a moving ship

In 1954, when my squadron was sent to Germany, I traveled from Tallahassee, FL to Bremerhaven, Germany on the USS Private Thomas. My recollection is that the intervals were adjusted at night to accommodate the change in time zones. Since we were moving eastward, toward the rising sun, time was compressed by sounding the bells in 25 minute intervals until the appropriate time was achieved. Is this a reasonable resemblance to the truth or just a fanciful memory? John Harvey (talk) 23:14, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Additional citations

Why and where does this article need additional citations for verification? What references does it need and how should they be added? Hyacinth (talk) 13:20, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Classical vs. simpler system

What is the difference between the classical and simpler system? Not accounting for the "British usage after the Nore mutiny" variant, they seem to be the same, just described differently. The number of bells is the same for every hour in both tables, only the first one uses 24 hour time and the second one 12 hour time. Matushorvath (talk) 09:34, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

The crew on board ship are traditionally divided into two or three watches, though for simplicity let's call them shifts in this note. If each shift takes its turn, then the shifts never change which watch they stand and for instance the same shift will do the Middle or Night watch (00:00-04:00) every night. To circumvent this the Dog Watch, stood in the late afternoon is split into two 2-hour watches (first dog and second dog). Thus there are seven watches per day, and the shifts change around the clock. In the American system this is not apparent from the bells and it is indeed identical to the simpler system used for "ship's clock" clocks designed for land use. The British system currently rings 1-2-3-*, 1-2-3-8 so it is clear that they are two different watches. Prior to the Nore Mutiny they rang 1-2-3-*, 5-6-7-8 which is similar, and possibly identical to, the American system. See the discussion above as to whether * is 4 or 8. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 08:42, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Metal

I've added "brass or" to "bronze". Looking at the National Maritime site, the first five bells I checked were made of "metal", (1), bronze (1) and brass (3). Certainly brass is more common on small boats, can anyone find reliable citations for the metal(s) used? Martin of Sheffield (talk) 14:57, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

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Ship's Bell Roald Amundsen

Found this beautiful photo of the sailing vessel Roald Amundsen's ship's bell and got written consent from the author to upload and publish it on commons. Since I uploaded it, I don't want to put it in this article, but present it to you, so you can consider using it. Berndxfiedler (talk) 06:36, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Ship's Bell of Brig Roald Amundsen