The Fanshaw Bay’s skipper, Capt. Douglass P. Johnson, was a gentlemanly Cincinnatian who had graduated in the Annapolis class of 1920 and earned his wings during the genesis of naval aviation. Johnson had endeared himself to his crew on the Fanny B.’s maiden voyage, ferrying aircraft to Australia. Fleeing an enemy sub, Johnson was informed that the carrier’s boilers were reaching their temperature limit. In the fine rhetorical tradition of Farragut, Dewey, and Nelson, Captain Johnson shouted into the voice tube, “Piss on them then. We need more speed.”
