Officers and dignitaries are piped aboard. Those boarding and departing the ship salute the flag on the fantail staff.

The bells were struck for every half-hour of each watch, with a maximum of eight bells. At eight bells your watch was over! All other 4 hour watches followed this same procedure except the Dog Watches. At the end of the First Dog Watch, only four bells were struck, and the Second Dog Watch bells were struck like this: 6:30 PM, one bell; 7 PM two bells; 7:30 PM, three bells; and at 8 PM, eight bells. Since 1915, all U.S. Merchant vessels over 100 gross tons have, by law, divided the crew into three watches, working four hours on and eight hours off, and turning the dog watches into one evening watch.