Boatswain's whistle
A bosun's whistle (also bosun's whistle ) is a metal signal whistle that is used on board ships .
In the era of tall ships , the bosun's whistle was used by the bosun to pass on commands to the ship's crew. Roman rowers are said to have been commanded by whistling as early as ancient times. In its current form, the boatswain's whistle was first used on English sailing ships in the 13th century . Although she only knows the two pitches “high” and “low”, certain signal sequences comprised a large number of different commands. The loud and shrill sound drowned out the weather, the sea and the noise of the ship. He also interrupted any conversation on board.
The pipe is simple to assemble and has no moving parts, but it does take some practice to use. The air flow is blown through a mouthpiece into a narrow tube, from the end of which it hits an open ball at high speed. The edge of the ball opening serves as a labium , similar to that of an organ pipe . By blowing differently and changing the hand position, the sound can be varied when whistling. Basically, a distinction is made between the signal tones "high" and "low", the duration of the tone and its sequence, trills are also used.
The instruments are made of metal, mostly copper and brass . Silver-plated and solid silver versions are also available, and a golden pipe became the insignia of the highest British Admiralty in 1670. The pipes of the German Navy are made of nickel-plated brass. Depending on the user's rank , they are also called mate's whistle or boatswain's whistle .
In today's shipping, commands are passed on to the crew via loudspeakers , megaphones or on-board radio , and the boatswain's whistle only plays a major role in on-board ceremonies on military ships. Every officer and dignitary who goes on or off board is entitled to a signal of deference: there is a "whistle" . The whistle is also used during the flag parade . In contrast to this, the “front” is whistled by the officer on watch with the battery whistle. It is traditionally used on training sailing ships such as the Gorch Fock , where commands are still given or announced by whistles.
Web links
- Whistle signals. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of the Navy. Marine Press and Information Center, January 12, 2016, archived from the original on April 10, 2016 .
- Use of the whistle and audio samples