The Best Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Quotes

Admiral: I'd like you to recommend your own replacement.
Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.: Ray Spruance. I know... I know, he's junior to a lot of other flag officers, and never served a day on a carrier. But Chet, he *knows* carrier tactics.
[beat]
Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.: Well, you asked for my recommendation.
Admiral: I can just imagine Washington's reaction if I hand over the Enterprise and the Hornet to a cruiser skipper. Especially after all the static I've been getting about going out looking for the Japanese at Midway.
Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.: You told me once, Chet. When you're in command, command.

Commander: [Last lines] I wonder if Matt knew how big we won.
Admiral: I think I know what he'd have said: It doesn't make any sense, Admiral. Yamamoto had everything going for him, power, experience, confidence. Were we better than the Japanese, or just luckier?

Admiral: [after the Japanese fleet has been sighted but before the battle begins] No matter what happens, Joe, I want you to know you've sure as hell earned your salary this month.
Commander: Thank you, sir.

Captain: Admiral, Commander Rochefort has something he would like to tell you.
Commander: It's about objective AF, sir, the meaning of AF. Now, our listening posts have been picking up alot of traffic between Yamamoto's staff commanders.
Captain: There has been a heavy volume of traffic, sir, with the recurring references to Objective AF and... what was the other one?
Commander: AO. Now, AO is still a mystery, Admiral, maybe a diverson, but I think we've identified Objective AF as Midway. Now, it really had us stymied there, until one of my men remembered an enemy intercept we decoded last March. Now, a Jap reconnaissance pilot radioed his base that he was passing close to AF. Now we plotted every possible course this plane might have taken, and the only appreciable land mass he could have overflown at the time was Midway.
Captain: Joe...
Commander: Look, I know it's thin...
Admiral: Thin? Damn near invisible.
Commander: But I found a way to confirm it, sir.
[Takes out a message and passes it to Nimitz]
Commander: If you will have this flown to Midway. It's a fake message, sir, reporting that Midway's fresh water condenser has broken down. Now, it should be transmitted in the clear, so there's no question of Japanese operators getting every word of it.
Admiral: [Smiles and nods, passing it over to Blake] Instruct Midway to include that in their housekeeping traffic tomorrow.
Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake: Aye, sir.

Captain: Admiral, these enemy radio intercepts that your intelligence unit has been accumulating...
Admiral: Very detailed, aren't they?
Captain: Too damned detailed, Admiral. Do you remember what happened just before December 7th?
Admiral: The Japanese flooded the airwaves with fake messages.
Captain: Yes. These could be carbon copies. Washington's convinced that Yamamoto's feeding this stuff to you in order to cover his real intentions.
Admiral: Very definite possibility.
Captain: Well then, sir, how can you still insist...
Admiral: Because it is my judgement that this information is factual. I'm convinced Yamamoto's target is Midway.
Captain: If you're wrong, Admiral, if you send our carriers into a Japanese ambush, the entire west coast and Hawaiian islands will be wide open for invasion.
Admiral: I'm fully aware of that, Captain. You're saying the safe play is to defend the home folks first.
Captain: With respects, Admiral, it's the smart play.
Admiral: Captain, if we surprise the enemy, catch him where he doesn't think we'll be, we can drive him back 3000 miles. And keep him pinned 'til we're ready to take him on his own front yard.
Captain: Sir, my instructions were to convey Washington's deep concern for the safety of the west coast and the Hawaiian islands. That is, if...
Admiral: Captain Maddox, is Washington ordering me to defend against an attack here or the west coast?
Captain: No, sir. My orders were simply to consult. No, sir, I have no such orders for you.
Admiral: Commander Blake, declare a state of fleet-opposed invasion. Target... Midway Island. Issue the order immediately.
Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake: Aye, aye, sir.

[Nimitz has received the first reports on the Battle at Midway]
Admiral: Did you confirm it?
Lt. Jack Reid: Yes, sir. Admiral Fletcher's reply just came in. "Fletcher to Nimitz. Confirm previous report. Three enemy carriers afire".
Admiral: Hallelujah.
Lt. Comm. Rochefort: Three of their first-line carriers, Admiral. Isn't that worth at least a "hot diggity damn"?
Admiral: I'll take it under advisement, Joe, but there's still that fourth enemy carrier to deal with.
Lt. Jack Reid: There's also a message fron Captain Buckmaster, sir. The Yorktown's been hit.
Admiral: Badly?
Lt. Jack Reid: Yes, sir, but she is underway again... operational.
Lt. Comm. Rochefort: My gosh, our whole force may be in jeopardy if the Japanese located the Yorktown. They still got a tremendous fleet out there, Admiral.
Admiral: But that fourth carrier can't be far off.
Lt. Comm. Rochefort: We've already won a great victory, Admiral. Maybe we oughta get our people out of there.
Admiral: You mean... break off, run for home?
Lt. Comm. Rochefort: Before they can hurt us again. Yes, sir.
Admiral: Well, that might be the smart play, Commander. Trouble is, I *want* that fourth carrier.

Admiral: [to Captain Garth after getting a briefing on the Coral Sea operation] We can't trade them carrier for carrier, Matt.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz: [Is informed Admiral Halsey's been hospitalized] Damn. You know how much Bill Halsey hates hospitals.
Capt. Matt Garth: Maybe it's not that serious, sir.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz: If he's scheduled himself to go anywhere *near* one, it's not only damn serious, it's probably critical.
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort: [Joins them] Admiral, I got some really bad news.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz: Well, today's the day for it.
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort: The Japanese have changed their JN-25 code, that's the one that's been giving us Yamamoto's plans.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz: How long will it take for you to unravel their new system?
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort: A month, maybe two.
Capt. Matt Garth: Sir, do you still want that fleet order issued?
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz: ...Yes. Target: Midway.