The ship's bell has been constructed in many different ways over the years. Uses of the ship's bell on active vessels include: time keeping, religious ceremonies, and sounding alarms. The ship's bell is respected as a nautical decoration because of its historic and traditional significance. Ship bell nautical decorations are sometimes made in chrome or brass. Ship bells are strongly tied to the nautical culture, as you can see by the number of ship bell nautical decorations available today.

What's more, the ship's bell serves to alarm the crew in cases of emergency or drill practices onboard. The ship bell's distinct sound was critical to getting the attention of the crew. The ship's bell had a particular method for alarming the crew to emergencies, such as a fire. The rings that followed informed the crew of the location of the fire. A single ring meant that the fire was to the front; while two and three rings identified the fire in the center and rear, respectively.

The ship's bell was integral to keeping time at sea before the chronometer came along. The ship's bell worked in conjunction with a half-hour glass to accomplish this task. The time keeper struck the ship bell whenever the hour glass reached a half-hour mark. After an hour was up, the ship's bell would be struck twice. After the first hour, two more bell strikes were added on for the following half hour. The watchman working a four hour shift relied on this ringing of the ship's bell to keep track of his duties. The United States Navy's daily routine uses the ship's bell in the same way.

It eventually became mandated that all ships sound their bell when passing through low visibility situations to keep other ships from running into them. The ship's bell was loud enough to penetrate the thick fog and get the attention of nearby ships in the area. Maritime law called for all ships to have a functioning ship's bell on board at all times. In the Revolutionary War, the settlers were introduced to the same functions of the ship bell as used by the English. America's oldest surviving ship, USS Constitution, was furnished with a bell weighing 242 pounds.

The unintended effect of one of the ship bell's standard uses led to one of the American Navy's greatest sea victories during the War of Independence. The Jamaica Fleet used their bells when sailing through fog, inadvertently alerting the Americans to their position. The American's preemptive strike resulted in not only a victory, but the largest prize catch during the War of Independence. The Jamaica Fleet was forced to relinquish about one million dollars in cargo and other prizes after the battle.

The ship's bell nautical decoration is a perfect reminder of its importance throughout the history of warships. Authentic ship bell replicas are easy to find online with many nautical decor websites selling them. Because of the aforementioned historical and traditional significance behind the ship's bell, it deserves a place in any dedicated collector's nautical decor collection.