A large brass bell flanked by two flags graces the far end of the Great Hall of Cleveland City Hall. Another bell is tucked behind it, against a wall.
Every day, dozens of people who work at City Hall or who are seeking birth certificates or business licenses rush by. Sometimes someone stops. And that’s why the bells are there.
They are a “physical representation of history,” honoring veterans who served on U.S. Navy ships named in tribute to Cleveland, said Tim Daley of Collinwood, a history buff and chair of the Heritage Committee for the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation.
“Anytime we can provide a true period piece, it connects people and gives them an opportunity to feel and see history,” Daley said. “It makes it personal.”
The ships relied on the bells to signal other ships, sound alarms and mark time.
How the Navy bells got to City Hall
This fall, the City of Cleveland entered into a formal agreement with the Navy to display the two bells at City Hall. In an Oct. 2 meeting, the Cleveland City Council Safety Committee passed an ordinance “authorizing the Director of Public Safety to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Navy to display two bells and other memorabilia of the USS Cleveland.” The full council approved the ordinance Oct. 7.
Cleveland Documenter Mildred Seward has more details from the Oct. 2 Cleveland City Council Safety Committee meeting and Cleveland Documenter Marcy Clark from the Oct. 7 Cleveland City Council meeting including:
- Details on the emergency ordinance authorizing the agreement to display the bells
The larger bell comes from the first USS Cleveland — the ship was ordered in 1899 and saw service before and during World War I, when it escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean. The second bell comes from the second USS Cleveland, which was ordered in 1938 and served during World War II in the Atlantic briefly and then in the Pacific.
Looking ahead
Daley, the Collinwood history buff, said the bell for the Vietnam-era USS Cleveland is currently in Navy storage. Previously, it was displayed in Heritage Park at Progressive Field. Daley said the legacy foundation is working to bring that bell back to Cleveland.
A fourth USS Cleveland is being built. It will be what is called a littoral combat ship, which is a relatively small surface vessel used for near-shore operations. Daley said it is expected to be completed soon. It will sail from the shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, to Cleveland next August or September for a week of celebrations before heading to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway. That occasion will be one of many events planned to mark the 250th anniversary of the Navy’s founding.
Daley said the USS Cleveland foundation is working to preserve the memory of the ships that bear the city’s name and, indeed, the naval history of this Great Lakes city.
To that end, the foundation last month celebrated the new Lone Sailor Plaza at Voinovich Bicentennial Park north of the Great Lakes Science Center.
Courtney Smrdel is the director of operations for the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation and a Navy veteran. She said the foundation’s work is important.
“We love being able to connect the previous ships named for Cleveland to all neighborhoods, people and age groups,” Smrdel said. “Soon there will be another USS Cleveland that will represent our city as it travels the globe. We want Clevelanders to know how special that is.”
