Ship's Bell Rope

When I arrived at the Battleship IOWA in Richmond, Ca in 2011, there was no bell rope on the ship’s bell up on the bow. This is not the original bell. We needed a bell rope in order the ring the bell for a variety of purposes. I went to my friends on the Liberty Ship, Jeremiah O’Brien and asked if they had a bell rope we could borrow. Ship Keeper, Philip O’Mara said sure, and brought me to the rope locker where there were several “working” bell ropes hanging up and handed me one, saying, “Keep it. These are nothing special and we have plenty.” This roughly 18” bell rope was installed on the IOWA. I don’t have the exact date, but it was fairly early on in 2012, because I remember ringing the bell in the cold winter morning air. It is a very modest bell rope – nothing fancy, but it served the ship well through many special occasions. It pulled the bell’s massive clapper to mark ship’s time; to wake and torment fellow crew members when there were only a few of us aboard in the early days; to mark the remembrance of friends and shipmates lost on April 19, 1989; to honor the loss of ships on Pearl Harbor Day, and to mourn the passing of those on September 11. It wasn’t just used for memorials and solemn occasions though. This bell rope was the connection to ringing that celebrated the volunteer milestones of multiples of 1000 hours (1000, 2000, 3000 hours etc.) for many, many proud volunteers over the course of the first seven years as a museum ship. Ringing the bell has become one of the highest honors for the ship’s volunteers – whether timidly, or with gusto. Scrappy looking as it may be, this little bell rope has a history that has carried our ship through our growing pains and triumphs as a museum, grasped by hands in sorrow and in joy, reflecting the emotion of the day. It was removed from the bell on November 11, 2018, when it was replaced by a newly made bell rope.

At the 2018 Fleet Week celebration, I visited the booths and displays at the Downtown Harbor Cut for the Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s mini Festival of Sail. There I met Mike Bromley, President of the Knot Tyer’s Guild. I was very up front about not having funds to hire him, but mentioned that I had a high profile project making a new bell rope for the Battleship. Would he be interested? I brought him to the ship to show him the bell, hoping he’d take the bait once he saw the bell and existing rope. He took on the job as a volunteer. Being a traditionalist and master of an arcane art, he knew that the length of a proper bell rope is equal to the diameter of the opening at the base of the bell. Armed with overalls stuffed with spikes, fids, knives, and tape, he took measurements and photos before he departed. He was curious about “the key” on the existing bell rope. This key was a mystery, and it had not been a part of the original rope gotten from the O’Brien. More on the key shortly. Fast forward to Armistice Day. The 100 year anniversary of the end of WWI was coming up and would be an ideal time to inaugurate the new bell rope. After procuring the materials and working tirelessly for 4 very long days, Mike completed, delivered, and installed a gloriously beautiful, full sized bell rope on November 11, 2018. It is lightly coated with shellac, but will receive more coats in time. Apparently it matters what kind of coating you use, or it could get, “puffy,” obscuring the fine detail.

The new bell rope was used to ring the newly polished and coated bell (Thank you to volunteers Stan Sato and Ben Jackel!) 21 times by Marine veteran and crew member Ryan Sweeny to mark the Armistice. Turns out the “key” from the old rope was actually a kind of challenge coin (that looks suspiciously like a bottle opener) for Navy Chiefs that has the inscription, “THE KEY TO SUCCESS / STARTS WITHIN THE MESS” and was added to the rope by Navy Chief and volunteer Jerry Johnson. Now the key is part of the ship’s history as an addition to the bell rope, and has been transferred to the new rope where it remains.

Ship’s bells are an important part of Navy tradition, and by extension, so are the bell ropes that adorn them. Practical, yet beautiful, they are a throwback to the age of sail when they were used as showpieces for the bo’s’n to do their finest “fancy work.” As we mature as an institution, it is only fitting that we have a proper, battleship worthy bell rope. At the same time, the original, gifted rope from Richmond is a fitting reminder of where we’ve come from and how much we’ve accomplished with so little in the way of resources, but a whole lot in the way of heart, work, determination…and a little help from our friends.


The Borrowed Bell Rope		New Bell Rope with Master Knot Tyer Mike Bromley