What's the most famous quote in U.S. Naval history and what were the circumstances?

Question

I favor John Paul Jones "I've not yet begun to fight"

Answer 1

'Damn the Torpedos, Full Speed Ahead,' Admiral David Fargut at the Battle of Mobile Bay in responce to an overly cautious officer announcing there were 'mines' in the water.

Ranks as a 'purely' Naval quote whereas the equally wonderful John Paul Jone's quote could refer to any battle situation, along with Commodore Dewey's crisp, "You may fire when you areready Gridley," both emminently quotable but lacking a definite nautical twist.

High on my list is one that contributed a book and a movie to the American canon.
""I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way."

Captain John Paul Jones, 16 November 1778, in a letter to le Ray de Chaumont.
[Morison, Samuel Eliot. John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1959): 182.]""

also more to the point----
"""Don't give up the ship!"

Tradition has it that Captain James Lawrence said these heroic words after being mortally wounded in the engagement between his ship, the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, and HMS Shannon on 1 June 1813. As the wounded Lawrence was carried below, he ordered "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!"

Although Chesapeake was forced to surrender, Captain Lawrence's words lived on as a rallying cry during the war. Oliver ""

as is
"""We have met the enemy and they are ours..."

Oliver Hazard Perry's immortal dispatch to Major General William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813, "We have met the enemy and they are ours-- two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop." The victory secured the Great Lakes region for the United States and ended the threat of invasion from that quarter.
[William S. Dudley, ed., The Naval War of 1812: Documentary History. vol.2 (Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1992): 553.]"""

And veryt much to the point--
"""Sighted Sub, Sank Same."

Message sent by an enlisted pilot, AMM 1/c Donald Francis Mason, on 28 January 1942. Mason believed that he had sunk a German U-boat off Argentia, Newfoundland.
[Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939-1942. (New York: Random House, 1996): 482"""


Joy ----------------

Answer 2

Naval Quotes

Answer 3

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RE:
What's the most famous quote in U.S. Naval history and what were the circumstances?
I favor John Paul Jones "I've not yet begun to fight"

Answer 4

I agree, some may say "don't give up the ship", but it doesn't have the ame ring. to me a close second would have to be "you may fire when ready mr, gridley by Admiral David glassglow Farragut " damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead!", at the Civil war battle of Mobile bay. and then for shear coolness of delivery "you may fire when ready mr, Gridley". as spoken by Commodore Dewey to begin the battle of Manila bay during thre Spanish American war.

ONe other I like, it's not in the ame inspiring catagory, but during WWII, in the Pacific, the battleship North carolina was putting up such a wall of gun and Anti Aircraft fire, that she was virtually engulfed in smoke and flame, and recieved a radio message asking "Are you on fire?"

Answer 5

Damn the Torpedoes. Full Speed Ahead!

David Farragut

Answer 6

Yours is my favorite as well, but I can give you three more:
1. David Farragut, Battle of Mobile Bay, 1862. "Damned the Torpedos, full speed ahead."

2. George Dewey, Battle of Manila Harbor, 1898. "You may fire when ready, Gridley."

3. Stephen Decatur, at a toast he gave at a banquet in his honor celebrating his victory over the Barbary Pirates. "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."

Answer 7

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Answer 8

From Commander-in Chief Fifth Fleet to Fifth Fleet Pacific:

THE WAR WITH JAPAN WILL END AT 1200 ON 15TH AUGUST (STOP) IT IS LIKELY THAT KAMIKAZES WILL ATTACK THE FLEET AFTER THIS TIME AS A FINAL
FLING (STOP) ANY EX-ENEMY AIRCRAFT ATTACKING THE FLEET IS TO BE SHOT DOWN IN A FRIENDLY MANNER (STOP)

Answer 9

"I have not yet begun to fight" definitely. Jone's ship was taking on water and on fire but he was still victorious over the British.

Answer 10

Everyone forgets Ensign Nulsens statement:

We have met the enemy and he is us.