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Cast Brass Ship's Bells
Sand-cast in brass, machined, and hand-polished — three pounds to two hundred. Willis bells ring aboard yachts and working boats, and the pattern has served the U.S. Navy. Bought once, kept for generations.
Welcome, WoodenBoat readers
Marine Specialist Since 1888
Built for a Life on the Water
E.J. Willis has outfitted American vessels since 1888 — first from Chambers Street on the New York waterfront, now from New England. We still sand-cast our bells in brass, still finish them by hand, and still build the R-1453 Bothway bilge pump the way it was drawn a century ago. Nothing here is decorative.
Where would you like to begin?
Explore Ship Bells
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The R-1453 Bothway Pump
All brass, double-action, rebuildable with hand tools. The Bothway moves water on the push and on the pull. It is heavier than it strictly needs to be, and that is the point.
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Custom & Commemorative Work
Engraved bells for christenings, retirements, yacht clubs, and institutions. Tell us the vessel, the occasion, and the words you want cut — we will tell you what it takes.
Est. 1888
A Maritime Name Since 1888
The E.J. Willis Co. opened at 91–93 Chambers Street in lower Manhattan, in the heart of the ship chandlery district. By 1937 the catalog ran 264 pages and promised "the biggest variety of boat supplies for immediate delivery to be found anywhere in America" — rope and chain, ensigns and jacks, binnacles, lamps, blocks, barometers, and bells.
The bell work moved upstate to Middleville, New York, where the patterns, the tooling, and the foundry relationships stayed put for decades. The company is run today out of New England, with those same patterns and the same brass.
From New York's waterfront to upstate New York and now New England, E.J. Willis has stayed tied to the working waterfront and the traditions of American seamanship.
Made for Mariners
These are marine products with working-vessel heritage — not souvenirs with a nautical finish.
Aboard Working Boats
Willis gear reached commercial fishermen, tugmen, and yachtsmen through the same chandleries, in the same catalog, at the same counter. It was specified by people who would have to live with it.
Navy Pattern
Our bells are cast to the traditional U.S. Navy pattern, and Willis bells have served aboard naval vessels and at memorials ashore — including the bell dedicated to Pharmacist's Mate Jack "Arky" Williams.
Built to Be Repaired
Brass, bronze, and bar stock. No plastic housings, no potted electronics, nothing that ages out of service. A Willis piece is meant to be maintained, not replaced.