Page 159 - MustangEbook

An example of a Plank Owner Certificate that was
issued to Pioneer Crew.

The sense of ownership felt by a ship’s crew, RADM Ng Chee Peng rang the ship’s bell to
especially by its commissioning crew, has signify the opening of an RSN event.
carried this naval term into the twenty-first Warning Auditory Signal
century – to today’s steel ships.
The sounding of a ship’s bell found a natural
In the RSN, some ships have expanded on this application as a warning signal to other
tradition with the adoption of “Pioneer Crew vessels in poor visibility and fog. In 1676,
Board”. Each of the pioneering plank owners Henry Teonage, a chaplain in the British
has their names craved out in mini wooden Mediterranean Fleet recorded “so great a fog
“planks” affixed to the main board to that we were fain to ring out bells, beat drums,
represent the traditional planks in era past. and fire muskets often to keep us from falling

foul one upon another”. Ringing a ship’s bell
in fog gradually became customary. In 1858,
the British Naval Regulations made it
mandatory. Today, maritime law still requires
all ships to carry an efficient bell, though its
actual application has been superseded by the
use of the ship’s horn.

Alarm
The “Pioneer Crew Board” tradition is adopted by
RSS Endurance and RSS Independence (new
LMV) for their pioneer crew. The bell is essential as the ship’s fire alarm
system. In the event of a fire, the bell is rung
THE SHIP’S BELL rapidly for at least 5 seconds, followed by one,
two or three rings to indicate the location of a
In modern times, the ship’s bell serves purely fire – forward, amidships, or aft respectively.
ceremonial purposes. However, the ship’s bell Without the bell, there is no means of
had an illustrious history serving essential alarming the entire ship of the fire!
practical purposes.