Ship “Sołdek” – ship’s bell

The sound of ship’s bell on the steam ship “Sołdek”. The recording was realized on board of the ship-museum belonging to the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk (Poland).

Ship’s bell serves indication purposes. It is used for striking so called glasses, i.e. sounds informing about the current hour of the watch on board. In restricted visibility conditions, so called fog signal is struck on the bell, informing other vessels about ship’s position while at anchor or aground.

The ship “Sołdek” was the first seagoing cargo ship constructed by Polish ship industry. The construction was carried out by the Gdańsk Shipyard and the vessel was launched in November 1948. “Sołdek” was a coal and ore freighter, i.e. the ship intended for exporting coal from Poland and importing iron ore on its way back. Although it operated on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea area, “Sołdek” sometimes sailed on the Atlantic, transporting coal to French ports.
In 1980, “Sołdek” was withdrawn from service and listed as a monument of Polish ship industry. It is open for tourists as ship-museum for 20 years now, constituting a department of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk.

Sound recordist: Monika Widzicka
Photographer: Piotr Leszczyński