Ship bell

Ship's bell on the Chancellorsville

The ship's bell is an instrument for sound signals. The ship's bell has been an indispensable part of every ship since around the 16th century.

With it, time and waking rhythm (compare hourglass ), unplugged lengths of the anchor chain and warning signals in poor visibility and fog were given. They were usually cast individually from brass for each ship, the handle on the clapper is usually artfully woven from linen ( plating ). Therefore, they are interesting pieces for historians and collectors.

The time is announced every half an hour - unlike, for example, with church bells, which regularly ring every quarter of an hour: A chiming of the bell (a " glass ") means half an hour, the chimes are combined in pairs. The counting starts over every four (instead of twelve) hours, because a sea watch lasts four hours. Example: With three double hits and a single hit, it is “seven glasses”, which can mean 3:30, 7:30, 11:30, 15:30, 19:30 or 23:30 depending on the guard.

On larger ships there were usually two ship bells, a large one on the forecastle , a smaller one for glassing on the wheelhouse forward edge of the bridge or on the port side.