Bell clock
The bell clock uses acoustic signals (glass) to indicate the waking times during seafaring .
The term glass for calculating time on seagoing ships is derived from the glass hourglasses that were used to determine time on board before the invention of the chronometer . It was a half-hour glass and a four-hour glass. The running down and turning of the half-hour glass was indicated by striking the ship's bell, the number of strikes being equal to the frequency of turning. This counting went up to eight, that is, according to a watch, and then began again with turning the four-hour glass. The corresponding times are "eight glasses" (beginning of waking), "one glass", "two glasses", -, "seven glasses" up to again "eight glasses" (watchers).
For tradition and for practical reasons, the striking of the glass has been retained on many ships. Until 2016, however, the German Navy only stayed on the Gorch Fock .
The chiming of the glass or the turning of the hourglass is struck by the watchman at the ship's bell audibly for everyone in a fixed rhythm. Every full hour is a double beat, every half hour a single beat. For example, if you hear two double strikes and a single bell in the afternoon (= five bells), it is either 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. You can tell them apart by feeling, so you don't need your own watch on a ship that has regular glasses.
If you hear four double strikes, i.e. eight glasses, on many ships it is still time for the changing of the guard. Two to three shifts alternate at work. Traditionally, there are three guard duties on German ships. After four hours of guard followed eight hours off duty .
Eight jars for the end of a watch are also considered a symbol of the transition from life to death in seafaring, which is why this term and the four-fold double strike of a ship's bell is often used for the death and burial of a seaman and for commemoration.
There is no glass on ships lying in the port. But there are exceptions: The Kiel Week starts with the eighth strike of the Gorch Fock annually on the penultimate Saturday evening in June.
| guard | crew | Strikes of the glass - rhythm - time | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | ||
| •• •• •• •• | • | •• | •• • | •• •• | •• •• • | •• •• •• | •• •• •• • | •• •• •• •• | ||
| 1st day watch (04:00 to 08:00) morning watch |
1 | 04:00 | 04:30 | 05:00 | 05:30 | 06:00 | 06:30 | 07:00 | 07:30 | 08:00 |
| 2nd day watch (8:00 am to 12:00 pm) morning watch |
2 | 08:00 | 08:30 | 09:00 | 09:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 | 12:00 |
| 3rd day watch (12:00 to 16:00) afternoon watch |
3 | 12:00 | 12:30 | 13:00 | 13:30 | 14:00 | 14:30 | 15:00 | 3:30 p.m. | 16:00 |
| 4th day watch (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ) Flatfoot or rat watch |
1 | 16:00 | 16:30 | 17:00 | 17:30 | 18:00 | 18:30 | 19:00 | 7:30 p.m. | 20:00 |
| 1st night watch (8:00 p.m. to midnight ) evening watch |
2 | 20:00 | 20:30 | 21:00 | 21:30 | 22:00 | 22:30 | 23:00 | 23:30 | 24:00 |
| 2nd night watch (00:00 to 04:00) dog watch |
3 | 00:00 | 00:30 | 01:00 | 01:30 | 02:00 | 02:30 | 03:00 | 03:30 | 04:00 |
Individual evidence
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↑ Eight glasses for the traditional boatman's meal dapd on January 17, 2013
What is the ship's bell for on www.wasistwas.de - ↑ Beer, glasses and torments - The Kiel Week ABC. NDR broadcast date: June 16, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
- ↑ Coornellius de Jong: sea life . In: The collector: An entertainment sheet . Second year. Vienna 1810, p. 35 ( limited preview in Google book search - Dutch: Reize naar de Mittellandsche Zee in de Jaren 1777–1779 .).