“I have not yet begun to fight!”
Captain John Paul Jones, during the battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, September 23, 1779
“Don’t give up the ship!”
Captain James Lawrence, during engagement between his ship, the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, and HMS Shannon, June 1, 1813 (Lawrence died and the ship was lost, but it became a rallying cry for the Navy)
“We have met the enemy and they are ours…”
Oliver Hazard Perry, dispatch to Major General William Henry Harrison after victory in the Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813
“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut in Mobile Bay, Alabama, August 5, 1864, after the first ship in his attack was demolished and the second stopped by mines
“You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”
Commodore George Dewey, at the Battle of Manila Bay, Spanish-American War, May 1, 1898
“Sighted Sub, Sank Same.”
AMM 1/c Donald Francis Mason, after the sinking of a German U-boat off Argentia, Newfoundland, January 28, 1942