[Bell Historians] American buoy bells

[Carl S Zimmerman]

While I can't confirm that particular bell, I can tell you that the 
U.S. Coast Guard (and its predecessor organizations) have used bell 
buoys since the 1850s. One of their suppliers (but probably not the 
only one) was McShane of Baltimore. That firm is still in business, 
but they have not actually cast bells for many years.

Carl

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At 19:59 +0100 2005/10/08, John Walton wrote:
>Would anyone happen to be able to suggest the likely founder of a buoy
>bell I heard, and distantly sighted, to the west of the Golden Gate
>Bridge, San Francisco, on a recent visit to the city? Indeed was it
>actually a bell at all?
>
>John
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