Admiral Nimitz Quotes in Midway (1976)

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Admiral Nimitz Quotes:

  • [Nimitz has received the first reports on the Battle at Midway]

    Admiral Nimitz: 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 Nimitz: Hallelujah.

    Lt. Comm. Rochefort: Three of their first-line carriers, Admiral. Isn't that worth at least a "hot diggity damn"?

    Admiral Nimitz: 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 Nimitz: 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 Nimitz: 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 Nimitz: You mean... break off, run for home?

    Lt. Comm. Rochefort: Before they can hurt us again. Yes, sir.

    Admiral Nimitz: Well, that might be the smart play, Commander. Trouble is, I *want* that fourth carrier.

  • Captain Garth: Admiral, Commander Rochefort has something he would like to tell you.

    Commander Rochefort: 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 Garth: There has been a heavy volume of traffic, sir, with the recurring references to Objective AF and... what was the other one?

    Commander Rochefort: 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 Garth: Joe...

    Commander Rochefort: Look, I know it's thin...

    Admiral Nimitz: Thin? Damn near invisible.

    Commander Rochefort: But I found a way to confirm it, sir.

    [Takes out a message and passes it to Nimitz]

    Commander Rochefort: 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 Nimitz: [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 Vinton Maddox: Admiral, these enemy radio intercepts that your intelligence unit has been accumulating...

    Admiral Nimitz: Very detailed, aren't they?

    Captain Vinton Maddox: Too damned detailed, Admiral. Do you remember what happened just before December 7th?

    Admiral Nimitz: The Japanese flooded the airwaves with fake messages.

    Captain Vinton Maddox: 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 Nimitz: Very definite possibility.

    Captain Vinton Maddox: Well then, sir, how can you still insist...

    Admiral Nimitz: Because it is my judgement that this information is factual. I'm convinced Yamamoto's target is Midway.

    Captain Vinton Maddox: 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 Nimitz: I'm fully aware of that, Captain. You're saying the safe play is to defend the home folks first.

    Captain Vinton Maddox: With respects, Admiral, it's the smart play.

    Admiral Nimitz: 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 Vinton Maddox: 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 Nimitz: Captain Maddox, is Washington ordering me to defend against an attack here or the west coast?

    Captain Vinton Maddox: No, sir. My orders were simply to consult. No, sir, I have no such orders for you.

    Admiral Nimitz: Commander Blake, declare a state of fleet-opposed invasion. Target... Midway Island. Issue the order immediately.

    Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake: Aye, aye, sir.

  • Commander Rochefort: [Last lines] I wonder if Matt knew how big we won.

    Admiral Nimitz: 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 Nimitz: [after the Midway operation] Joe, I want you to know that you've earned your pay this month.

    Commander Rochefort: Thank you, sir.

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

  • Admiral Nimitz: Well, we all know the Navy's never wrong. But in this case, it was a little weak on bein' right.

  • Admiral Nimitz: On the most exalted throne in the world, we are seated on nothing but our own arse.

  • Admiral Nimitz: You're a hard man to kill, aren't you, Admiral?

  • Admiral Nimitz: Now, Grant didn't give a damn about organization, but neither was he afflicted with the virus. Admiral Torrey, you're going to be my Grant!

  • Admiral Nimitz: Well, we gave him the molasses. Now let's feed him the sulfur.

  • Admiral Nimitz: Torrey, you just named your own poison.

  • Admiral Nimitz: I can't fire him. I can't scramble his whole command over night. It leaves a bad effect on our allies and gives aid and comfort to the enemy.

  • Admiral Nimitz: Indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy it's will to win. Or even to survive.

  • Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: Just how far can I go in dealing with Admiral Broderick, sir?

    Admiral Nimitz: Well. Ya can't kill 'im.

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