[Bell Historians] Ships Bells

[Anne Willis]

________________________________________
From: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Bickerton, Roderic (SELEX GALILEO, UK)
Sent: 10 November 2008 08:22
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Bell Historians] Ships Bells

There must be someone more qualified than me to answer this one than me
The use of bells was for time calling.
Ships run a watch keeping system, to enable active manning thought 24 hours.
all the changes are geared to a number of strikes of the bell.
The navy is intensely traditional, even maintaining shore establishments as
if they were ships.
Submarines maintain watch keeping, so would have a bell.
Bells presumably became obsolete when vessels became so large and noisy
that the bell could not be heard below deck in much of the vessel, so they
are no more or less logical on a submarine than any large surface vessel.
They were never as far as I know used to signal land or other vessels. Flags
guns lights and horns are used for that.
 
 
 
 According to my merchant seaman daughter ‘Bells are still a legal
requirement.  We have one on our foc’sle, as the law wishes us to. 
We still sound "noon bells" on Shell ships.  Mind you, this is an electronic
blast of the ships whistle and the general alarm (electronic bell) so
depends on how pedantic you wish to be on the subject.’

Anne

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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