- Commander Paul Eddington: Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: What is Vicki Marlowe's secret?
- Commander Egan Powell: Well, it's not what it says in here. Vicki Marlowe's secret is that she's making a half a million bucks a year and she still collects alimony from me, in my present reduced circumstances. Well, anyway... I have the satisfaction of knowing that all of her pictures have been stinkers since I stopped writing them. Rockwell, my boy, never, I repeat never marry a movie actress.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: You married three of them.
- Commander Egan Powell: I know. It was like eating peanuts. Once I started, I couldn't stop.
- CINCPAC II: Well, we all know the Navy's never wrong. But in this case, it was a little weak on bein' right.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: A fast ship going in harm's way - a lousy situation, Commander Eddington.
- Commander Paul Eddington: Lousy!
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: How do admirals feel about nurses?
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: The same way captains did.
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be someplace else.
- Commander Egan Powell: Does that include admirals?
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: Yes.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Get a message off to Pearl. "Have taken two torpedoes." Fill in our position. "Extent of damage unknown. Will advise."
- Commander Burke: And break radio silence, sir?
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Burke, don't you think the Japanese know by now where we are?
- Captain Paul Eddington: Lieutenant, I don't know the situation between you and your father, but let me tell you this: Bums like your friend Owynn are with us always, like bad weather. But sailors like your old man only happen once in a while
- Ensign Jere Torrey: I'm afraid I cannot accept your evaluation of Commander Owynn.
- Captain Paul Eddington: Well , I'm afraid I cannot accept you as Rock Torrey's son. I think somebody got in there ahead of him.
- Ensign Jere Torrey: Now wait a minute, Eddington!
- Captain Paul Eddington: *Captain* Eddington. Yes?
- [the Cassiday is underway, trying to escape the attack on Pearl Harbor]
- Lt. Cline: Captain Harding, sir, and the exec!
- Commander Rafe Harding USN, Cassiday's CO: [Standing on the bow of a pursuing motor whaleboat, frantically waving his hat up and down] Cassiday! Stop! Let us aboard!
- Lt. Tom Agar: How the hell can we stop? It'll take twenty minutes at this speed!
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: [Making a decision not to stop] Does anyone on this bridge see anything back there?
- Bosun's Mate Chief Culpepper, USS Cassiday: Well, if they do, Mr. McConnell, I'll guarantee you they won't see nothin' again.
- Lt. Tom Agar: [Laughing] Let 'er rip, Mac!
- Commander Egan Powell: It's about time you crawled down from Mount Rushmore and took a look around for yourself. You'd be surprised at the changes we've made in the last 100 years.
- Ensign Jere Torrey: Leaving, sir?
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Yes. Before I pick you up and throw you to the fish.
- Admiral Kimmel: It is my duty to inform you that you have been relieved of your command, pending the findings of a court of inquiry.
- Captain Torrey: I don't understand, sir.
- Admiral Kimmel: You weren't zig-zagging when you took the two torpedoes.
- Captain Torrey: I was stretching my fuel, sir.
- Admiral Kimmel: If you didn't have fuel to complete your mission, why didn't you turn back for Pearl?
- Captain Torrey: My mission was to intercept and engage an enemy of greatly superior strength, sir. I could only take that one way: that my group was expendable.
- Admiral Kimmel: I doubt if a court of inquiry will accept that. Captain, you're about to be caught in a vacuum between a peacetime Navy and a wartime Navy. Six months from now, they'll be making admirals out of captains who exhibit some guts. But right now, they're only reacting to the Pearl Harbor disaster, and punishment is order-of-the-day. Of course, you don't have to abide by what a court of inquiry decides. You can ask for general court-martial, get yourself a couple of crack sea lawyers, and make a fight of it.
- Captain Torrey: I wouldn't care to do that, sir.
- Admiral Kimmel: Why not?
- Captain Torrey: Second-generation Navy, Admiral.
- Admiral Kimmel: I see. I don't plan to ask for court-martial either, Captain, and I've lost a fleet. So I expect we'll both just take what they give us, and trust it will be a useful job somewhere.
- Captain Torrey: Yes, sir.
- Admiral Kimmel: Good luck.
- Captain Torrey: Good luck to you, sir.
- Col. Gregory: Sir, I can't put up all of my men unless we get at least five more transports.
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: Well, aren't there any more R4D's on Tulabonne?
- Col. Gregory: Yes, but they're held in reserve.
- Captain Paul Eddington: Reserve! What... for?
- Col. Gregory: That's the way Admiral Broderick has things organized.
- Captain Paul Eddington: What happens if an R4D conks out?
- Col. Gregory: Tulabonne sends us a spare until we get it fixed.
- Captain Paul Eddington: Five of 'em just conked out, Gregg.
- Commander Egan Powell: Let's relay the sad news to Broderick!
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: Mr. Canfil, you seem to have fallen in among thieves!
- Clayton Canfil, Australian Coastwatcher: It does seem so, Admiral, I'm very happy to say!
- Commander Egan Powell: Gottlieb! Tuthill!
- [as Gottlieb and Tuthill leave the washroom, Powell takes out a quarter, tosses it, and covers it on his arm]
- Captain Paul Eddington: Heads.
- Commander Egan Powell: [uncovers the quarter and inspects it, laughing] Good-bye, Commander! Enjoy it!
- [Exit]
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: Now what do you suppose he meant by that?
- Captain Paul Eddington: Well, aren't you going with Broderick?
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: Why, no, I...
- Captain Paul Eddington: I think you are.
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: Now wait a m...
- Captain Paul Eddington: [slaps Owynne backhanded] Now I don't care how you do it, but you'd better be on that plane with Broderick - unless you want to be buried on the island of Gavabutu.
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: You can't do that to m...
- Captain Paul Eddington: [forehand slap] I *am* doing it. We've got a job here, and neither you nor Broderick nor anybody else is going to screw it up. Understand?
- [Another forehand slap]
- Captain Paul Eddington: Hmm? And take this punk with you.
- [Exit]
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: I'll have him court-martialled - striking a fellow officer. And you saw it! I didn't hit him back.
- [looks at his cut lip in a hand mirror]
- Ensign Jere Torrey: I didn't see anything!
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: What do you mean, you didn't see anything?
- Ensign Jere Torrey: As far as I'm concerned, a coconut fell through the roof and hit you in the mouth. So you better figure out some excuse to get us on that plane with Broderick.
- Cmdr. Neal Owynn: How'd you like to be transferred back to PT Boats, fella? 'Cause one word from me to Broderick and you're on your way!
- Ensign Jere Torrey: Say the word!
- [exit, leaving Owynne to look at his cut lip again]
- [the Cassiday has just sunk the Japanese sub that torpedoed Torrey's cruiser]
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Nice work, Harding! You did a 4-0 job on that sub!
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: Thank you, sir, I'm not Commander Harding, sir.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Well, where is he?
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: Ashore, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Well, who's in command?
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: I am, sir! Lt. j.g. McConnell, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Did I hear Lieutenant junior grade?
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: William McConnell; Class of '38, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Oh. Well, can you rig for towing?
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: Can do, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Can you pass some portable pumps to us?
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: Can do, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Carry on, Mister!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: [Quietly, to himself, with admiration] Can do.
- CINCPAC II: 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!
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: Oh, he had his chances to ask me. Ten days' worth of chances, that's enough. He didn't call me, so I called him.
- Annalee: How did you have the nerve?
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: Annalee dear, past a certain age, men are apt to avoid making sudden moves where women are concerned. The women have to do the sudden moving, or else everybody stands still until it's too late. It gets late fast in these times. I like this man, and I want him to know it - now.
- Annalee: Suppose he and Jere bump into each other? Jere's very funny about his father.
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: Oh, let 'em bump. I'd be interested to see what happens.
- Lt. Tom Agar: [the Cassidy prepares to head out] Mac, we've got to wait for the Captain
- LTJG 'Mac' McConnel: Screw the Captain.
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: Hey, that's quite a knife you carry.
- Captain Rock Torrey: Yeah. Can opener, screwdriver, punch, straight blade - even a skinning blade.
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: Oh, that is useful. What do you skin?
- Captain Rock Torrey: Lieutenant nurses who pull my leg.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Paul, you're forcing me to throw my weight at you. Fish, or cut bait. Get on your feet or take your troubles elsewhere. I've got a ship to run.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: He's my son.
- Commander Egan Powell: Well! I'd like to meet him, Rock.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: No you wouldn't.
- CINCPAC II: 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.
- CINCPAC II: 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?
- CINCPAC II: Well. Ya can't kill 'im.
- [Powell has just discovered that Eddington has flown off on a suicide mission]
- Commander Egan Powell: You mean you just gave him a plane without checking with Operations?
- Sailor: Sir, Captain Eddington is Chief of Staff; sir, he *is* Operations.
- Bosun's Mate Chief Culpepper, USS Cassiday: Mister McConnell, no tellin' when we might ship together again, and, well, me and the boys all took a vote, and we voted you the best officer to be marooned on a desert island with!
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: The smiling young lady from Niger. She rode on the back of a tiger. And after the ride, she wound up inside, with her smile on the face of the tiger.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: If you can hold a razor in that hand, you might shave before you come topside.
- Commander Paul Eddington: Aye, aye, Father Torrey.
- Commander Egan Powell: Man, I tell you, the women - they're smokin' cigarettes, drinkin' whiskey, doin' the shimmy-sham-shimmy, hot damn!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Well, I'm... flying under... false colors, Miss Haynes. I don't know my son. I've been divorced for many years and he's been raised by his mother and family. I didn't even know he was in the Navy.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Well, I'm here to see a nurse. What are you here for?
- Ensign Jere Torrey: To see a nurse.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: It looks like we have something in common after all.
- Ensign Jere Torrey: I'm just a chip off the old block, sir!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Ever hear the name 'Cunliffe'?
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: It's one of those expensive New England names, isn't it?
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Well, she was a Cunliffe, Jere's mother. I met her at a Navy ball, 1917. She was beautiful. I don't know why she married me - I was just an ensign.
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: I bet you were something when you were an ensign.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Fell over my feet most of the time. But when I came back from the war, I had a son, and the Cunliffes had great plans for me. I was to resign my commission in the Navy, and do something useful... the stock market. They sat around with teacups on their laps, and ticker tape coming out of their ears, and I said no. It was quite a scene. Then, Athalie - that was her name, Athalie - said, 'Rockwell, I will not become a camp follower. Whenever you are not busy boating with the Navy, feel free to come visit us.' And that's the way it was; I visited. Then I was assigned to duty in the Philippines, and that ended it.
- Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: You left out one small detail. You were terribly in love with her.
- Clayton Canfil, Australian Coastwatcher: There's a way to find out what the Japs are up to; but I'll have to do it myself. I used to run a plantation on Gavabutu; I know that island like the back of my hand. Have one of your subs put me ashore there and in two weeks, I'll be able to tell you just what our little yellow brothers are up to.
- Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: All right, Mr. Canfil; but be careful, we can't afford to lose you.
- Clayton Canfil, Australian Coastwatcher: [Grinning] I'm not planning on getting lost, Admiral.
- Sailor: [as Eddington takes off on his recon flight] Sir! How shall I log this flight?
- Captain Paul Eddington: Joy ride with the Chief of Staff!
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Are you sure you were invited?
- Commander Egan Powell: Maybe not, but one sailor looks like another.
- Commander Egan Powell: I'm so scared, my bones are clicking like dice on a Reno craps table. I should be back in Hollywood sitting in front of a typewriter making all this up for a move, not living it.
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be someplace else.
- Commander Egan Powell: Does that include admirals?
- Captain Rockwell Torrey: Yep.