We have all heard on an old movie when a look out says, “Four Bells and Alls Well!” What does that actually mean? Well, I will tell you. The bells were used on sailing ships to tell the time for everyone. Since there were not many time pieces on old ships it was hard for everyone to tell the time.

When a watch starts those who are going on watch need to know when periods of time pass so they can do certain tasks. Each bell represents half an hour since watch started. So if you are standing the 0400-0800 watch and you hear 6 bells it is 0700.

However since just about everyone now a days wears a watch of there are clocks in every work space on a ship bells are not needed to tell time any longer.