After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922

The Washington Arms Limitation Treaty 1922 was arguably one the most significant disarmament treaties of the first half of the 20th century. It can be shown that the heritage items associated with this treaty are still extant. Ship’s bells are one of the few moveable objects that are specific to the...

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Main Authors: Dirk H. R. Spennemann, Murray Parker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Heritage
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/1/3
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author Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Murray Parker
author_facet Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Murray Parker
author_sort Dirk H. R. Spennemann
collection DOAJ
description The Washington Arms Limitation Treaty 1922 was arguably one the most significant disarmament treaties of the first half of the 20th century. It can be shown that the heritage items associated with this treaty are still extant. Ship’s bells are one of the few moveable objects that are specific to the operational life of a ship and are therefore highly symbolic in representing a vessel. This paper surveys which bells of the ships scrapped under conditions of the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty are known to exist. A typology of ship’s bells has been developed to understand the nature of bell provisioning to vessels newly commissioned into the U.S. Navy. Each of the countries associated with the Washington Treaty have divergent disposal practices with respect to navy property, and this is reflected in both the prevalence and nature of custodianship of ship’s bells from this period. Such procedures range from the U.S. requirement commanding all surplus Navy property to be deemed government property upon ship deactivation, to the British practice of vending ship’s bells to private parties at public sales. However, ship’s bells, like many obsolete functional items, can be regarded as iconic in terms of heritage and therefore warrant attention for future preservation and presentation in the public domain.
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spelling doaj.art-7b4633359b274ae1b72cc53505b47b3b2023-11-21T03:10:06ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082020-12-0141327510.3390/heritage4010003After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922Dirk H. R. Spennemann0Murray Parker1Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640, AustraliaSchool of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640, AustraliaThe Washington Arms Limitation Treaty 1922 was arguably one the most significant disarmament treaties of the first half of the 20th century. It can be shown that the heritage items associated with this treaty are still extant. Ship’s bells are one of the few moveable objects that are specific to the operational life of a ship and are therefore highly symbolic in representing a vessel. This paper surveys which bells of the ships scrapped under conditions of the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty are known to exist. A typology of ship’s bells has been developed to understand the nature of bell provisioning to vessels newly commissioned into the U.S. Navy. Each of the countries associated with the Washington Treaty have divergent disposal practices with respect to navy property, and this is reflected in both the prevalence and nature of custodianship of ship’s bells from this period. Such procedures range from the U.S. requirement commanding all surplus Navy property to be deemed government property upon ship deactivation, to the British practice of vending ship’s bells to private parties at public sales. However, ship’s bells, like many obsolete functional items, can be regarded as iconic in terms of heritage and therefore warrant attention for future preservation and presentation in the public domain.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/1/3military heritageWashington Arms Limitation Treatyship’s bellssymbolsheritage policytypology
spellingShingle Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Murray Parker
After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
Heritage
military heritage
Washington Arms Limitation Treaty
ship’s bells
symbols
heritage policy
typology
title After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
title_full After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
title_fullStr After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
title_full_unstemmed After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
title_short After They Fell Silent: The Nature and Fate of the Ship Bells Associated with the Vessels Scrapped for the Washington Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922
title_sort after they fell silent the nature and fate of the ship bells associated with the vessels scrapped for the washington arms limitation treaty of 1922
topic military heritage
Washington Arms Limitation Treaty
ship’s bells
symbols
heritage policy
typology
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/1/3
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