Wiktionary
n. The strokes on a ship's bell, every half hour, to mark the passage of time. In each of the day's six watches of four hours, one bell marks the end of the first half hour, eight bells marks the end of the watch.
Usage examples of "ship's bells".
Viola Poombs bounced over, her cleavage preceding her like ship's bells in fog.
And he had not much more in teaching them punctuality, for they quite soon grasped the meaning of the ship's bells.
But Koljaiczek was gone forever, gone from the band music, gone from the sirens, from the ship's bells on His Majesty's ship, from Prince Heinrich's baptismal address, and from His Majesty's frantic gulls, gone from Heil dir im Siegerkranz and from His Majesty's soft soap used to soap the ways for His Majesty's ship, gone from America and from the Columbus, from police pursuit and the endless expanse of logs.