Question: Do the British rhyme the ship's bow with no?

I'm not British, but since I live in one of the "colonies", my observation may count for something: I would say that in Canada, "No, a ship's bow does not rhyme with no, but rather with cow."

The knot you can use to tie your boat to the dock, a bowline, is said BO-lun, 'round these parts. In that word, the bow bit rhymes with no, just to be confusing! But the park called Bowring Park is pronounced like the front of the ship, rhymes with cow-ring park, another nonsense word to add to Dub Dub's list! Argh! I remember trying to help my Turkish friend with this word, and eventually collapsing in a fit of giggles - too many options for this one short word!!!!