Traditions of the sea - the names and times of sea watches

by Bob Wonders(with some help from Peter Edmonds) on 8 Feb 2009 Sail-World would like to thank Peter Edmonds, 'yachtie and Naval Architect' for his additions and corrections to the original text of this article

I had a query through the week asking me the methods used by seamen to name the various watches when on duty.

Actually, the query centred on the oft-used saying, ‘eight bells and all’s well.’

The reason there are eight bells is simple; on board ship, one bell signifies a half-hour, so eight bells denotes the half-hours in a four-hour watch.

For those on duty when a vessel is at sea, particularly those on the bridge, the ‘watches’ are nearly all of four-hours duration except for the First Dog Watch and Last Dog Watch.

The first watch of the night at sea is called, not surprisingly, the First Watch (2000hrs through to midnight).
It is followed by the Middle Watch (000hrs to 0400hrs), the Morning Watch (0400hrs to 0800hrs), the Forenoon Watch (0800hrs to 1200hrs), the Afternoon Watch (1200hrs to 1600hrs), the First Dog Watch (1600hrs to 1800hrs) and the Last Dog Watch 1800hrs to 2000hrs).

Seafarers days used to run noon to noon. This lined up with the major navigational event of the noon sight; used for the basis for the day's run. I don't know when the general change happened.

Eight Bells occurs at the end of each of the 4 hour watches, and the Last (or second) Dog Watch.

Dog Watches bells are:

1 2 3 4 (end of 1st Dog)
1 2 3 8 (end of 2nd Dog)

Reason for the Dog Watches to be only two-hours instead of four was instituted to allow all crew members to enjoy the evening meal, which usually started at 1700hrs.

Should someone out there be curious, I must confess I have no idea why the two-hour watches are called ‘Dog Watches.’

No doubt some manual of seafaring traditions could supply the answer.

The sea and its sailors boast a remarkable history over hundreds of years and many traditions followed by the men of Horatio Nelson, John Paul Jones and Christopher Columbus are still practiced on the ships of the 21st century.

For those with a love of the sea and its traditions, there are books available on the various subjects that make for fascinating reading.

Check with your local library or go on-line to unearth some wonderful leisure time book browsing.

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Apart from correcting some of the information in the original text, Peter Edmonds has kindly offered this additional information:

The real reason for the insertion of dog watches is to get a shift from one day to the next when a ship is running a 2-watch system.

Sailing ships normally ran a 2-watch system, with only a few of the complement (cooks, sailmaker etc) not standing watches. The watch on deck could handle a certain amount of sail operations, but some would require both watches.

These would be done at change of watch if practicable, but at times the watch below would need to be called out (mainly weather change driven).

Latter day MN ships often ran 3 watches, usually without rotation (4 - 8, 8 - 12 and 12 - 4). The Navigating Officer normally took the 4 - 8, as best times for star sights during his watches.

There is an overlay of daywork for those off watch in the forenoon and afternoon watches.

Naval vessels usually followed the dog watch pattern in peacetime, with the watch change at 1230. Afternoon watchmen were sent to dinner at 1130. I have Royal Navy (RN) (through Reserve) experience some years ago. The midday meal was the main meal of the day.

Dog watches probably took their name from 'dog' being used as a qualifier for a smaller or minor entity.