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"Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship! Fight her till she sinks!"

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026

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Original Language: English

Sources

Who: James Lawrence, later used as naval ensign by his friend Commodore Perry. According to Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), the only documented source is the blue battle-flag inscribed with these words ordered and used by Oliver Hazard Perry as a signal during the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Although popularly attributed to Captain James Lawrence as his dying words during a battle with a British frigate off the coast of Boston on June 1, 1813, there remains t

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Last_words

Who: James Lawrence, later used as naval ensign by his friend Commodore Perry. According to Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), the only documented source is the blue battle-flag inscribed with these words ordered and used by Oliver Hazard Perry as a signal during the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Although popularly attributed to Captain James Lawrence as his dying words during a battle with a British frigate off the coast of Boston on June 1, 1813, there remains t