Ship's Bells
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A Ship's bells are used to indicate time onboard ship. One bell sounds for each half hour.[1] Bells are rung in pairs to make it easier to count.[2] Thus, for a watch starting at 12:00, one bell means 12:30, two bells mean 1:00, two bells pause 1 bell means 1:30, and so on until 4:00 ("eight bells"). This cycle starts again for the next watch.
The use of 30 minutes as the interval between bells originates from the use of a half hour glass to keep time. Each half hour, the glass would be flipped and the appropriate count of the bell would be rung.[3]
| Number of bells | Hour | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| One bell | 12:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 |
| Two bells | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 |
| Three bells | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 |
| Four bells | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 |
| Five bells | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 |
| Six bells | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 |
| Seven bells | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 |
| Eight bells | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 |
References
- ↑ U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration [1]
- ↑ http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/shipbee.htm
- ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq83-1.htm
