Talk:Ship's bells
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[edit] 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)
[edit] 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.
