Three bells. (Let’s call it 1330 hours.) Is it:
ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding;
or is it:
ding-ding, ding?
In the Merchant Marine it was ding-ding, ding. (Unless Pasquale was wheelsman that day, then it was di-ding, di-ding-ding, di-ding, ding, di-ding. Pat had a hard time letting go the bell cord.)
Three bells is just that, 3 bells:
ding-ding, ding.
For those who don’t know, on-board ship, every half-hour the Bos’n’s Mate of the Watch (BMOW) rings the ships bells to announce the time. He starts at midnight-thirty (0030, or 12:30 am) with one bell (a single ding), and adds an additional bell every half-hour until he is ringing eight bells (at 0400, 0800, 1200, 1600, and 2000). Then he starts over. This corresponds to the traditional 4 hour long watch stood by the crew.
MinkMan (an ex-squid)
Woohoo! I was right! Thanks for the answers! 