Bell was rung, Boat will sail
Posted on Marine equipment
A 24-hour day is divided into 4-hour segments or watches. When a crew member is “on watch,” that means he or she is on duty, and to be off watch is to be off duty. In order to create an uneven number of watches, so that the crew member isn’t on duty the same time every 24 hours, one of the watches is divided into two 2-hour watches called dog watches.
The first watch is the first night watch from 8:00pm to midnight. The midnight or mid watch is from midnight to 4:00 in the morning. That is followed by the morning watch from 4:00 to 8:00am. From 8:00am to noon is the forenoon watch, then from noon to 4:00pm is the afternoon watch. That leaves one watch remaining which is divided into two-hour segments, dog watches, from 4:00 to 6:00pm and from 6:00 to 8:00pm.
Number of Bells During a Watch
The meaning and number of bells during a watch lets the crew know the time, how many half-hour segments they’ve been on duty, and when to change watches. For a 4-hour watch, there are 8 half-hours. When the watch is over, the crew will hear 8 bells. That is because there have been 8 half hours in that watch. That is also when the half-hour glass is turned over to start another half hour and the next watch crew is taking their positions.
After the first half hour of the new watch, there will be 1 bell. The second half hour will be on the hour with 2 bells. The third half hour will be on the half hour with 3 bells, the fourth half hour will be on the hour – 4 bells, fifth half hour – 5 bells, sixth – on the hour with 6 bells, seventh – 7 bells, and the end of the watch – 8 bells.
To use this system as a way of telling time would be 8 bells every 4 hours at 4:00am, 8:00am, noon, 4:00pm, 8:00pm and midnight. The other even numbers of 2, 4, and 6 are always on the hour, and the odd numbers of 1, 3, 5, and 7 are always on the half hour.
The system of bell ringing is still used today on some modern ships and on historic or replicated tall ships.