24 quotes
I have always said that a captain should act on his own initiative if his set orders tell him nothing.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
There will always be slaves, no matter what people promise and pretend.
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
God and the navy we adore, when danger threatens but not before!
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
Even in war it is necessary to love another.
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
Damnation on doubt. It kills more good sailors than round shot!
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
Each gun-captain was a king, every breech a small demanding kingdom.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
They don't have to fight wars! it mmight knock some sense into therir heads if they did!
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
Routine and discipline. It held the ship together no less securely than copper and tar.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
‘Never speak of a last letter to anbody, doi you hear me? for it may well be your last, if you dwell on it too much!’
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
He saw himself reflected in other people's faces, and the horror and the pity he saw there had never ceased to wound him.
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
Wars were not made by young men, he thought, yet they had to fight them.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
We cannot always know the man who leads, just as I am no longer privileged to recognize the face of every sailor and marine who obeys.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
'Remember, Thomas a victory now will put heart into the ordinary people at home. They've had much to bear over the years.It's not only sailors who suffer in a war, you know.'
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
'Do more than think about it. You are a flag-officer, and must not involve yourself with the affairs of subordinates. You command, they obey, it is the order of things, as well as you know.'
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
You know how sailors love to create mystery where there is none.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
‘He doesn't understand. The navy is my life. My only life, now. The war will not last for ever, but until it ends I shall stand in the line-of-battle as I have been entrusted to!’
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
He was ashamed and embarrassed, angry too that such a man could end like this. If peace did eventually come, there would be many more redcoats begging in the streets.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
Every ball was finding a target; and there were wild cheers as the American's forecastle was blasted to splintered, and one of her bow-chasers was hurled aside on to its crew.
For My Country's Freedom (1995)
Bolitho heard the blare of a trumpet and saw the sun gleam across black-plumed helmets and breast-plates as the horses changed formation and cantered into another wall of dust.
A Tradition of Victory (1981)
Seven years. It seemed impossible. So much had happened since that time. Friends killed: fine ships lost or battered into hulks in every corner of the world and across the ocean.
For My Country's Freedom (1995)