Ship's Bells
Sea Terms
The manner of telling the time on board ship is by striking the bell. Eight bells indicate midnight, 4 a. m., 8 a. m., Noon, 4 p. m., and 8 p. m. Thus it will be seen that every even four hours after midnight brings 8 bells around After midnight the first bell struck is 1, which stands for half-past twelve; one o'clock is represented by two bells; half-past one by 3 bells; two o'clock by 4 bells; half-past two by 5 bells; three o'clock by 6 bells; half-past three by 7 bells, and four o'clock by 8 bells. At half-past four 1 bell is struck, and so on, in the above order, until eight o'clock is made known by 8 bells again.
