Talk:Ship's bell

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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)

You are right, Lloyds used to ring the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lutine_%281779%29#The_Lutine_Bell target="_blank">Lutine bell</a>, 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)

[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.

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)