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This probably falls under the category of too much preparation. My ship was tied up at our home port of Charleston and I had the duty. We were breaking in a brand new bosun’s mate of the watch and all was going well until I received a phone call telling me that commanding officer of a cruiser moored down the way was coming onboard to discuss some upcoming exercises with our CO. There is a ritual to be followed when senior officers come onboard which involves ringing the ship’s bell and announcing their arrival over the internal communications system. Not being overly impressed so far with my Bosun’s Mate I decided that a little refresher training was in order. Senior officers coming onboard are identified by the name of their ship, I reminded him. You strike the bell four times, I reminded him, not to fast and not to slow. I even went so far as to giving him an example, “Ding, Ding…Ding, Ding…Virginia arriving.” After a few minutes of this he assured me that he had it right. So fast forward about half an hour to the big moment. The CO of the Virginia, a full Captain, strides down the brow. My CO and XO are arrayed behind me, and as I return the Captains salute I hear the click and hum of the 1MC and the strong, confident voice of my Bosun’s mate as he says, “Ding, ding…ding, ding…Virginia arriving.”