GirlHacker's Random Log

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The bell is a vital part of a Navy ship, symbolically and, in past times, practically for the marking of time and as an alarm. The British Royal Navy began a tradition hundreds of years ago of baptizing babies in the ship’s bell. While this ceremony started as a necessity for families at sea or foreign ports, it has remained a custom with significant meaning for many who serve on board military vessels. This past Saturday in Seattle, the bell of the Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea was turned over and filled with water for the religious consecration of baby Genevieve Carr, whose father serves aboard the ship. It was the first such ceremony on the Polar Sea and, as tradition dictates, Genevieve’s name will be engraved inside the bell. The Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum has a Christening Bells project with a database of names engraved inside ship bells it has catalogued. Those christened on a now decommissioned Canadian ship may search online and perhaps locate the bell with their name.

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