The exhibition at the Rusanov House Museum features a ship’s bell.

In Russian, a ship’s bell is called a “rynda”. Strictly speaking, a rynda is the ringing of a ship’s bell at noon (three strokes in a row). The bell is struck every half hour to indicate the time (“the bells are struck” starting from one bell for half an hour and up to eight bells), to sound a fire alarm and to send a signal in foggy conditions. Eight strikes of the bell (eight bells) indicate noon. Usually, all modern ships and vessels have bells.

The British began to use ship bells in the 15th–16th centuries. Gradually, all European maritime powers adopted the use of the bell. In Russia, the ship’s bell came into use in the early 18th century with the reforms of Peter I, who used the English charter of maritime service to draw up the “Marine Charter” for the Russian fleet in 1720. According to the charter, commands were given in English, and the command “Ring the bell!” was transformed by Russian sailors into a more understandable “Ryndu bey!” (meaning “strike the rynda”). Therefore, a ship’s bell is often mistakenly called a “rynda”. It is noteworthy that in pre-Petrine times, squires and bodyguards were called a “rynda” — a concept that Russian sailors would understand.

Linguists have not yet reached a consensus on the origin of the word “rynda”, but it has been known since medieval times. In those days, there was a now-forgotten verb “ryndat, ” that is, to shake. Quite logically, what was being shaken had the name “rynda”. According to maritime custom, the bell was cast with the ship’s name featured on it. If the ship’s name changed, the old bell would still keep the ship’s previous name. This tradition has helped many times to identify shipwrecks. A ship’s bell raised by the submariners immediately helped to identify the ship’s name and the time when it was built.

The use of a ship’s bell is currently regulated by a special charter (Part D). According to the regulations, any vessel of 12 meters or more must be provided with a bell to give signals in conditions of limited visibility, anchored or aground. In the modern Russian Navy, the strikes of bells are regulated by the Marine Charter of the Russian Navy for ships of the first and second ranks.