Time as Marked by the Bells
Telling Time Onboard –Ship Watches
By Mike McKinney, FN (’66-’67)
West Bloomfield, Mich.
The sailors in the Navy could tell the time by using the ships bell. The day is divided into seven periods called watches. The day starts at midnight and the time is recorded in four figures, of which the first two denote the hour and the last two the minute.
The following table shows the difference in the recording of time by naval and civilian methods.
|
Watch (24 hr clock) 12 hour clock
|
||
| Middle | 0000-0400 | midnight to 4 am |
| Morning | 0400-0800 | 4 am to 8 am |
| Forenoon | 0800-1200 | 8 am to noon |
| Afternoon | 1200-1600 | Noon to 4 pm |
| First Dog | 1600-1800 | 4 pm to 6 pm |
| Last Dog | 1800-2000 | 6 pm to 8 pm |
| First | 2000-2400 | 8 pm to midnight |
The purpose of dividing the period between 1600 and 2000 into two “dog watches” is to provide an odd number of watches in the 24-hour day so that the port and starboard watches will keep a different schedule each day.
The seaman, unlike the civilian, does not speak of the morning, afternoon, and evening, but of the morning, forenoon, afternoon, and dog watches.
