"It follows then as certain as night succeeds day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and that with it everything honorable and glorious."

                                    [George Washington]

"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned...  a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.

                                  [Samuel Johnson]

"A ship-of-war is the best ambassador."

[Oliver Cromwell]

(Often quoted as man-of-war,

rather than ship-of-war.)

"Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think he can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction...  I served in the United States Navy."

                                  [John F. Kennedy]

"A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him."

[Sir Winston Churchill]

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

[Sun Tzu]

"This ship is built to fight.  You had better know how."

                                  [Admiral Arleigh Burke]

"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]

"It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy, so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil."

 [Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz]

"Put your trust in God, but keep your powder dry."

[Oliver Cromwell]

"It's extremely difficult to second guess the American Navy, because the Americans rarely read their doctrine, and don’t feel compelled to follow it when they do."

 [Attributed to Admiral of the

Soviet Fleet, Sergei Gorshkov]

"A good Navy is not a provocation to war.  It is the surest guaranty of peace."

                                  [Theodore Roosevelt]

"He was begotten in the galley and born under a gun.  Every hair was a rope yarn, every finger a fish-hook, every tooth a marline-spike, and his blood right good Stockholm tar."

                                  [Navy Epitaph ]

"What, Sir?  You would make a ship sail against the wind and tides by lighting a bonfire under her deck?  I pray you excuse me.  I have no time to listen to such nonsense."

[Napoleon Bonaparte]

(On hearing Robert Fulton's

plans to build a steamboat.)

"The United States Navy is the envy of every other navy in the world.  They don’t want to be like us - they want to be us."

[Admiral Leighton Smith]

"We are outnumbered; there is only one thing to do.  We must attack!"

[Admiral Andrew Cunningham]

(Before attacking the Italian fleet

at Taranto, November 1940)

"The reason that the American Navy does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the Americans practice chaos on a daily basis."

[Attributed to Admiral Karl Doenitz,

of the German Kriegsmarine]

"Any commander who fails to exceed his authority is not of much use to his subordinates."

                                  [Admiral Arleigh Burke]

"All warfare is based on deception.  Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.  Hold out baits to entice the enemy.  Feign disorder, and crush him."

[Sun Tzu, The Art of War]

"There are only two absolute rules of thumb at sea: Don’t let the people in the water tank, and don’t let the water in the people tank."

                                  [Unknown Sailor]

"My rule is: If you meet the weakest vessel, attack; if it is a vessel equal to yours, attack; and if it is stronger than yours, also attack…"

[Admiral Stepan O. Makarov (1849-1904)]

"...destroyermen have always been a proud people.  They have been the elite.  They have to be proud people and they have to be specially selected, for destroyer life is a rugged one.  It takes physical stamina to stand up under the rigors of a tossing DD.  It takes even more spiritual stamina to keep going with enthusiasm when you are tired and feel that you  and your ship are being used as a workhorse.  It is true that  many people take destroyers for granted and that is all the  more reason why destroyermen can be proud of their  accomplishments."

                                  [Admiral Arleigh Burke]

"We make war that we may live in peace."

                                  [Aristotle]

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand.  Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a p#ssy."

[Attributed to General Tommy Franks]

"...without a respectable Navy, alas America."

 [Captain John Paul Jones]

"A powerful Navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always been of defense that we have thought, never of aggression or of conquest.  But who shall tell us now what sort of Navy to build?  We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and there will be no thought of offense or provocation in that.  Our ships are our natural bulwarks."

                                  [Woodrow Wilson]

"The difference between a good and great officer is about ten seconds."

                                  [Admiral Arleigh Burke]

 "We trained very hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form into teams we would be reorganized.  I was to learn in this life that we tend to meet any situation by reorganizing.  And a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."

[Frequently attributed to

Petronius Arbiter circa 60 A.D.]

(Probably of much more recent origin.)

"It was absolutely involuntary. They sank my boat."

                                  [John F. Kennedy]

                               (When asked how he became a war hero)

"There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than life at sea."

                                  [Joseph Conrad]

"No matter how enmeshed a commander becomes in the elaboration of his own thoughts, it is sometimes necessary to take the enemy into account."

[Sir Winston Churchill]

"Sighted sub, sank same."

[Message sent by an enlisted pilot, AMM 1/c

Donald Francis Mason, on 28 January 1942]

"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for."

[Grace Murray Hopper]

"Men of sense often learn from their enemies.  It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war."

[Aristophanes]

"No combat-ready unit can withstand the rigors of inspection.  No inspection-ready unit can withstand the rigors of combat."

[Attributed to General Black Jack Pershing]