Today I learned that the US Navy traditionally allows the infant children of crew members to be baptized in the upturned ship’s bell. A 2021 Navy press release about such a baptism onboard the USS Kearsarge says that this tradition was borrowed from the Royal Navy which permitted the such rites in foreign ports either in or under the bell.
A webpage created the National Bell Festival, a non-profit organization that supports the restoration of historic bells, says that the practice is also followed by the US Coast Guard, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.
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This video from 2017 shows a baptism performed in the bell of the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Photo: US Naval Institute
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