Slow Bell question stirs up nautical interest

By Brenda Cannon Henley
Seems as if I wasn’t the only one who wanted to know what “slow bell” meant from the response we have received this week to our question. I have so enjoyed hearing from more than a dozen of our readers and in getting to know several of them a little better. The first response I received early on Monday was from Lee Crowder, of Galveston County Roads and Bridges. Lee is one of the good guys in my opinion and I wrote in my earlier book that he should always wear a white hat. Lee cares about the Bolivar Peninsula and the people who call it home and those who property here even if they cannot call it home yet.

Lee said that it means “to take it easy,” and he sent me some wonderful nautical information to read and ponder. I also heard from Dave Byrd, David and Lisa Harris, June Peveto, and Noel Coward, who is a virtual walking encyclopedia of nautical information. There were several others and a half dozen or so who commented verbally to me about the slow bell question. Robert Bouse, a lifetime peninsula resident and fisherman gave me more interesting information before I taught our Sunday school class, and I am thoroughly enjoying being educated by professionals. Robert remembers the days of bells being rung as signals on boats right here in our waters.

SLOW BELL sign at the Galveston ferry landing

The more complex explanations indicate the “slow bell” signal is an engine order telegraph, or E.O.T., originating when the ships’ sailors were notified of the captains’ or pilots’ orders by the ringing or clanging of a bell. This was before the many communication systems they use today. I learned that it is also called a “chadburn,” a communication device used on a ship or submarine for the pilot on the bridge to order engineers in the engine room to power the vessel at a certain desired speed.

Engine Order Telegraph (EOT)

From the 19th century until about 1950, this device usually consisted of a round dial about nine inches in diameter with a knob at the center attached to one or more handles, and an indicator pointer on the face of the dial. Modern E.O.T.s on vessels, which still use them, use electronic light and sound signals. If a pilot wanted to change speed, he would “ring” the telegraph on the bridge, moving the handle to a different position on the dial. This would, in turn, ring a bell in the engine room and move their pointer to the position on the dial selected by the bridge commander. The order for a ship’s maximum speed is called a “flank bell.”

For urgent orders requiring rapid acceleration, the handle is moved three times so that the engine room bell is rung three times. Many ships have the following dial or bell instructions: Full ahead, half ahead, slow ahead, dead slow ahead, stop, dead slow astern, slow astern, half astern, and full astern.

For us non-professional sailors, Lee’s explanation of “take it easy” works for me, but it is important to understand that the nautical term of “bell” is rooted deeply in nautical history and is still respected today by those who know.

This article was first published in Crystal Beach Local News on Nov 28, 2011.

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2 Responses to “Slow Bell question stirs up nautical interest”

  1. Ship Jody in Red Hook says:

    Hi Linda.

    I remember the Erie Canal song as having the refrain:

    “Low bridge, we’re coming to a town!” But maybe at your school it was “slow bell!”

    I enjoyed reading about the engine order telegraph.

  2. Linda C. Elissalde says:

    Thank you for you enlightening article. I have often wondered about the term. I learned that it meant to go more slowly, but not why it was stated that way.

    When I was in elementary school, sometime before the invention of electricity, we sang a song about THE ERIE CANAL. ” Slow bell for we’re coming to a town,” were part of the lyrics. Now I know what they mean.

    Again, thank you.
    Linda C. Elissalde

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