Captain Frank Ramsey I expect and demand your very best. Anything less, you should have joined the Air Force.
Played by Gene Hackman 
Crimson Tide (1995) · 31 quotes
Crimson Tide (1995) · 31 quotes
Most-quoted character in Crimson Tide (1995): in 21 of its 31 quotes
Most scenes with: Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (14), Chief of the Boat (3)
Yeah, horses're fascinating animals. Dumb as fenceposts but very intuitive. In that way they're not too different from high school girls: they may not have a brain in their head but they do know all the boys want to **** 'em.
More lines from Captain Frank Ramsey
5 quotes Captain Frank Ramsey Captain Frank Ramsey I don't trust air I can't see.
Smoking a cigar
Captain Frank Ramsey All I ask is that you keep up with me. If you can't, then that strange sensation you'll be feeling in the seat of your pants will be my boot in your ass!
Captain Frank Ramsey What'd you think, son? That I was just some crazy old coot, putting everyone in harm's way as I yelled "YEE-HA!"?
Captain Frank Ramsey We're here to preserve democracy--not to practice it.
Scenes with Captain Frank Ramsey
15 scenes Capt. Ramsey Mr. COB!
Yes, sir?
Capt. Ramsey You're aware of the name of this ship, aren't you Mr. COB?
Very aware, sir!
Capt. Ramsey It bears a proud name, doesn't it, Mr. COB?
Very proud, sir!
Capt. Ramsey It represents fine people.
Very fine people, sir!
Capt. Ramsey Who live in a fine, outstanding state.
Outstanding, sir!
Capt. Ramsey In the greatest country in the entire world.
In the entire world, sir!
Capt. Ramsey And what is that name, Mr. COB?
Alabama, sir!
Capt. Ramsey And what do we say?
Go Bama!
All
Roll Tide!
Capt. Ramsey How do you like that cigar?
It's good, sir.
Capt. Ramsey It's your first?
Capt. Ramsey Well, don't like it too much. They're more expensive than drugs.
Capt. Ramsey You do qualify your remarks. If someone asked me if we should bomb Japan, a simple "Yes. By all means sir, drop that ****er, twice!" I don't mean to suggest that you're indecisive, Mr. Hunter. Just, uh... complicated. 'course, that's the way the Navy wants you. Me, they wanted simple.
Well, you certainly fooled them, sir.
Capt. Ramsey [chuckles]
Be careful there, Mr. Hunter. It's all I've got to rely on, being a simple-minded son of a bitch. Rickover gave me my command, a checklist, a target and a button to push. All I gotta know is how to push it, they tell me when. They seem to want you to know why.
I would hope they'd want us all to know why, sir.
Capt. Ramsey At the Naval War College it was metallurgy and nuclear reactors, not 19th-century philosophy.
Capt. Ramsey [Stifled laugh]
"War is a continuation of politics by other means." Von Clausewitz.
I think, sir, that what he was actually trying to say was a little more -
Capt. Ramsey Complicated?
[Men laughing]
Yes the purpose of war is to serve a political end but the true nature of war is to serve itself.
Capt. Ramsey [Laughing]
I'm very impressed. In other words, the sailor most likely to win the war is the one most willing to part company with the politicians and ignore everything except the destruction of the enemy. You'd agree with that.
I'd agree that, um, that's what Clausewitz was trying to say.
Capt. Ramsey But you wouldn't agree with it?
No, sir, I do not. No, I just think that in the nuclear world the true enemy can't be destroyed.
Capt. Ramsey [Chuckling, tapping glass]
Attention on deck. Von Clausewitz will now tell us exactly who the real enemy is.
Capt. Ramsey [Laughing]
Von?
Capt. Ramsey Short of the outbreak of World War Three, the ship sinking... being attacked by a giant octopus, I'd like to be undisturbed for the next thirty minutes.
I'll see to it sir.
Captain, here's the results from the missile drill.
Capt. Ramsey [looks at the missile drill results]
Is this the best they can do?
No sir. But, that's what they did.
Capt. Ramsey I want this down to five minutes. Train on.
Yes, sir.
Capt. Ramsey Tell your buddy Weaps to do it again, and keep on doing it until he gets it right.
Yes, sir.
Capt. Ramsey It looks like the whole crew needs a kick in the ass.
Or a pat on the back, sir. I just witnessed a fight down in crew's mess, no big deal. It appears that the crew is a bit on edge about all we're going through. Morale seems a bit low.
Capt. Ramsey [picks up the intercom and speaks into it]
May I have your attention please, crew of the Alabama, Mr. Hunter has brought it to my attention that morale maybe a bit low. and you might be a bit... [looks to Hunter]
Capt. Ramsey [over the intercom]
On edge. so, I suggest this. Any crew member who thinks that they can't handle the situation, can leave the ship right now. Gentlemen, we are at Defcon three, war is imminent. This the captain. That is all. [hangs up the intercom]
Very inspiring, sir.
Capt. Ramsey
We have orders in-hand. Those orders are to make a preemptive launch. Every second that we lose increases the chances that by the time our missiles arrive, their silos could be empty because they've flown their birds and struck us first.
Yes sir.
Capt. Ramsey
You know as well as I do that any launch order received without authentication, is no order at all.
Yes sir.
Capt. Ramsey
That's our number one rule.
National mil--
Capt. Ramsey
And that rule is the basis for the scenario we've trained on, time and time again. It's a rule we follow without exception.
Captain, National Military Command Center knows what sector we're in. They have satellites looking down on us to see if our birds are aloft and if they're not, then they give our orders to somebody else. That's why we maintain more than one sub, it's what they call 'redundancy'.
Capt. Ramsey
I know about redundancy, Mr. Hunter.
All I'm saying...
[Ramsey walks off. Hunter follows him and lowers his voice.]
All I'm saying Captain, is that we have backup. Now it's our duty, not to launch until we can confirm.
Capt. Ramsay
You're presuming we have other submarines out there, ready to launch. Well as Captain, I must assume our submarines could've been taken out by other Akulas. We can play these games all night Mr. Hunter, but ah, I don't have the luxury of your presumptions.
Sir...
Capt. Ramsey
Mr. Hunter, we have rules that are not open to interpretation, personal intuition, gut feelings, hairs on the back of your neck, little devils or angels sitting on your shoulder. We're all very well aware of what our orders are and what those orders mean. They come down from our Commander in Chief. They contain no ambiguity.
Captain...
Capt. Ramsey
Mr. Hunter: I've made a decision. I'm Captain of this boat. NOW SHUT THE **** UP!
Capt. Ramsey [to Hunter]
You repeat this order, or I'll find somebody who will!
Oh no you won't, sir.
Captain Ramsey, under operating procedures governing the release of nuclear weapons we cannot launch our missiles unless both you, and I agree.
Capt. Ramsey [shouting over Hunter]
COB, what're you waiting for?
This is not a formality sir, this is expressly why your command must be repeated. It requires my assent, I do not give it and furthermore, if you continue upon this course, and insist upon this launch without confirming this message first...
Capt. Ramsey [shouting over Hunter]
Son of a bitch... As commanding officer of the U.S.S Alabama I order you to place the XO under arrest under charges of mutiny.
I will act, backed by the rules of precedence...
Capt. Ramsey [shouting at the Chief of the Boat, over Hunter]
I say again, as commanding officer of the U.S.S Alabama, I order you...
-authority in command, regulations number 815, to relieve you of command, Captain.
Capt. Ramsey -to place the XO under arrest, under charges of mutiny!
Capt. Ramsey [Silence all round]
COB!
Captain, please, the XO is right. We can't launch unless he concurs.
Capt. Ramsey [reading EAM]
"To the U.S.S. Alabama: Rebel-controlled missiles being fuelled. Launch codes compromised, dissidents threaten to launch at continental United States, set DefCon 2. Immediately launch ten Trident missile sorties." They're FUELING THEIR MISSILES! We don't have time to **** around!
Sir, I think you need time to think this over.
Capt. Ramsey I DON'T HAVE TO THINK THIS OVER!
Captain, I relieve you of your command of this ship. COB, escort the Captain to his state room, I'm assuming command.
Capt. Ramsey You're not assuming anything!
CHIEF OF THE BOAT, Captain Ramsey is under arrest -- lock him in his stateroom!
Captain, please...
NOW, COB!
Capt. Ramsey Speaking of horses did you ever see those Lipizzaner stallions.
What?
Capt. Ramsey From Portugal. The Lipizzaner stallions. The most highly trained horses in the world. They're all white?
Yes, sir.
Capt. Ramsey "Yes, sir" you're aware they're all white or "Yes, sir" you've seen them?
Yes, sir I've seen them. Yes, sir I was aware that they're are all white. They are not from Portugal; they're from Spain and at birth, they're not white; they're black. Sir.
Capt. Ramsey I didn't know that. But they are from Portugal. [Chuckling] Some of the things they do, uh, defy belief. Their training program is simplicity itself. You just stick a cattle prod up their ass and you can get a horse to deal cards. [Chuckles] Simple matter of voltage.
Capt. Ramsey God help you if you're wrong.
If I'm wrong, then we're at war. God help us all.
Capt. Ramsey [reading Hunter's file]
Annapolis. Five patrols on fast attacks. Two on boomers; one as X.O.
Capt. Ramsey [Ramsey glances to Hunter for a beat and continues to read]
Hmm. A year at...[looks to Hunter, impressed] Excuse me. Harvard? [closes Hunter's file] I talked to your former C.O. He tells me he tried to adopt you. As you no doubt heard, my X.O. Has appendicitis. He's the best I ever had. I need a good man to fill his spot. Your name was at the top of the list.
Well, that's good to know, sir.
Capt. Ramsey [beat]
It was a short list. Your interests, Mr. Hunter. What do you like to do? Do you, uh...Do you paint, play ball, play an instrument, ride motorcycles, what?
I ride horses.
Capt. Ramsey Horses. What's the best horse you ever rode?
Arabian, sir.
Capt. Ramsey An Arabian? That's a powerful animal.
Yes.
Capt. Ramsey Me? Are you kidding? Nah, I couldn't handle an Arabian. Nah, just give me an old paint. Yeah, horses are fascinating animals. Dumb as fence posts but very intuitive. In that way, they're not too different from high school girls. They might not have a brain in their head but they do know all the boys want to **** 'em.
Capt. Ramsey [Hunter chuckles]
Don't have to be able to read Ulysses to know where they're comin' from.
No, sir.
Capt. Ramsey [Hunter notices a dog barking close to him] [referring to the dog]
He approves of you. Jack Russells. Smartest dogs alive. Name's Bear. Goes everyplace with me. Well, welcome aboard the Alabama, son. [extends his hand] Do me proud.
Capt. Ramsey Think it was a mistake, Mr. Hunter?
Sir?
Capt. Ramsey Using the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Well, if I thought that, sir, I wouldn't be here.
Capt. Ramsey Interesting way you put that.
How'd I put it, sir?
Capt. Ramsey Very carefully. [Chuckles]
Capt. Ramsey [Men laughing]
You do qualify your remarks. If someone asked me if we should bomb Japan, a simple "Yes. By all means sir, drop that ****er, twice!"
Capt. Ramsey [Men laughing]
I don't mean to suggest that you're indecisive, Mr. Hunter. Not at all. Just, uh... complicated. 'Course, that's the way the Navy wants you. Me, they wanted simple.
Well, you certainly fooled them, sir.
Ramsey [chuckles]
Be careful there, Mr. Hunter. It's all I've got to rely on, being a simple-minded son of a bitch. Rickover gave me my command, a checklist, a target and a button to push. All I gotta know is how to push it, they tell me when. They seem to want you to know why.
I would hope they'd want us all to know why, sir.
Ramsey At the Naval War College it was metallurgy and nuclear reactors, not 19th-century philosophy. "War is a continuation of politics by other means." Von Clausewitz.
I think, sir, that what he was actually trying to say was a little more -
Ramsey Complicated?
[Men laughing]
Yes, the purpose of war is to serve a political end, but the true nature of war is to serve itself.
Ramsey [Laughing]
I'm very impressed. In other words, the sailor most likely to win the war is the one most willing to part company with the politicians and ignore everything except the destruction of the enemy. You'd agree with that.
I'd agree that, um, that's what Clausewitz was trying to say.
Ramsey But you wouldn't agree with it?
No, sir, I do not. No, I just think that in the nuclear world, the true enemy can't be destroyed.
Ramsey [Men look to one another as Ramsey fall silent] [Chuckling, tapping glass]
Attention on deck. Von Clausewitz will now tell us exactly who the real enemy is. [Gestures to Hunter] Von?
[Following the rebel Russian submarine's attack, which damaged the Alabamas communications equipment]
Captain? Got the EAM.
Ramsey I think there's nothing on this.
Yes, sir. It, uh, got cut off during the attack.
Ramsey Then it's meaningless.
Sir, this is an EAM pertaining to nuclear missiles.
Ramsey No, Mr. Hunter, that's a message fragment.
Because it got cut off during the attack, sir. The message could mean anything. It could be a message to abort. It could be a message--
Ramsey Could be a fake Russian transmission.
Which is exactly why we need to confirm it, sir. All I'm asking for is the time we need to get back on line.
Ramsey Calm down, Mr. Hunter.
I am calm.
Ramsey You don't appear to be calm.
Weapons
Conn/Weapons: Missile systems ready to launch in four minutes.
Ramsey Step aside, seaman.
Seaman
Yes, sir.
Ramsey [Faint Radio Transmission]
We have orders in hand, and those orders are to make a preemptive launch. Every second that we lose increases the chances, that by the time our missiles arrive, their silos could be empty, 'cause they've flown their birds and struck us first.
Yes, sir.
Ramsey You know as well as I do that any launch order received without authentication is no order at all.
Captain... National Mili…
Ramsey [continues to talk over Hunter]
That's our #1 rule. That rule is the basis for the scenario we've trained on time and time again.
Yes, sir.
Ramsey It's a rule we follow without exception.
Captain, National Military Command Center knows what sector we're in. They have satellites looking down on us to see if our birds are aloft. And if they're not, then they give our orders to somebody else. That's why we maintain more than one sub. It's what they call "redundancy."
Ramsey I know about redundancy, Mr. Hunter. [walks off]
All I'm saying...
[Crew stares at Hunter before he meets with Ramsey again, speaking discreetly]
All I'm saying, Captain, is that we have backup. Now, it's our duty not to launch until we can confirm.
Ramsey You're presuming that we have other submarines out there ready to launch. But as captain, I must assume that our submarines could have been taken out by other Akulas. We can play these games all night, Mr. Hunter, but I don't have the luxury of your presumptions.
Sir...
Ramsey Mr. Hunter, we have rules that are not open to interpretation, personal intuition, gut feelings, hairs on the back of your neck, little devils or angels sitting on your shoulders.
Captain...
Ramsey We're all very well aware of what our orders are and what those orders mean. They come down from our Commander-in-Chief. They contain no ambiguity.
Captain, sir...
Ramsey Mr. Hunter, I've made the decision. I'm captain of this boat. Now shut the **** up! Damn. [over the intercom] Weapons/Conn: Shift targeting to target package SLBM 64741/2. This is the Captain.
Ramsey Repeat my command.
Sir, we don't know what this means. Our target package could have changed.
Ramsey You repeat this order or I'll find somebody who will!
Ramsey You're relieved of your position. COB, remove Mr. Hunter from the control room. Get Lieutenant Zimmer in here now!
No, sir, I do not concur and I do not recognize your authority to relieve me on the command under Navy regulations.
Ramsey COB, arrest this man and get him out!
Captain Ramsey, under operating procedures governing the release of nuclear weapons we cannot launch our missiles unless both you, and I agree.
Ramsey [shouting over Hunter]
COB, what're you waiting for?!
Now this is not a formality, sir! This is expressly why your command must be repeated! It requires my assent, I do not give it! And furthermore, if you continue upon this course, and insist upon this launch without confirming this message first...
Ramsey [shouting over Hunter]
Son of a bitch... As commanding officer of the USS Alabama I order you to place the XO under arrest under charges of mutiny!
I will be forced, backed by the rules of precedents...
Ramsey [shouting at the Chief of the Boat, over Hunter]
I say again, as commanding officer of the USS Alabama, I order you...
-authority and command, regulation 08150H6 of the Navy regulations, to relieve you of command, Captain!
Ramsey -to place the XO under arrest, under charges of mutiny! [Silence all round] COB!
Captain, please, the XO is right. We can't launch unless he concurs.
Ramsey [reading EAM]
"To the USS Alabama: Rebel-controlled missiles being fuelled. Launch codes compromised, dissidents threaten to launch at continental United States, set DEFCON 2. Immediately launch ten Trident missile sorties." They're FUELING THEIR MISSILES! We don't have time to **** around!
Sir, I think you need time to think this over.
Ramsey I DON'T HAVE TO THINK THIS OVER!
Captain, I relieve you of your command of this ship. COB, escort the Captain off the bridge, I'm assuming command.
Ramsey You're not assuming anything!
CHIEF OF THE BOAT, Captain Ramsey is under arrest — lock him in his stateroom!
Captain, please...
NOW, COB!
Aye, sir. Mitchell, Walker, take the Captain below.
Ramsey [Ramsey goes to leave, then turns and throws his missile key to Hunter]
You're out of your league, Hunter. You're not ready to make difficult decisions yet.
Rear Admiral Anderson [Captain Ramsey and Lt Cdr Hunter face the US Navy board of inquiry]
Stand there, Lieutenant Commander Hunter, this won't take long. This panel has convened in order to investigate the events subsequent to the setting of condition 1SQ for strategic missile launch aboard the USS Alabama on 1 November. Now based on the testimony of personnel onboard the Alabama and in no small measure to that of the senior officer, Captain Ramsey, I'm prepared to make my recommendations to SUBPAC.
LCdr Hunter
Without my testimony, sir?
Anderson You have a problem with that?
Anderson I have known Captain Ramsey for almost 30 years. We've served together on more than a few occasions. If he is lying, this will be the first I've heard of it.
Yes, sir.
Anderson My primary concern here is the breakdown in the system. In this instance, the system failed because the two senior officers did not work to resolve their differences while preserving the chain of command. Now you may have been proven right Mr. Hunter, but in so far as the letter of the law is concerned, you were both right - and you were also both wrong. This is the dilemma that will occupy this panel, this Navy, and this country's armed forces as a whole long after you leave this room. Off the record, you've both created one hell of a mess. A mutiny aboard a United States nuclear submarine. Violation of nuclear launch protocol. For the record, it is the conclusion of this panel that your actions aboard the Alabama were consistent with the best traditions of the Navy and in the interests of the United States. As such, the recommendations of this panel will be: to accept, in a manner reflective of his long and dedicated service to his country, Captain Ramsey's request for early retirement from active duty; and based in no small part on Captain Ramsey's recommendation, that Lieutenant Commander Hunter be given his next command at the earliest possible convenience. Unless of course, you wish to challenge these recommendations.
No, sir.
Anderson Captain Ramsey?
Capt Ramsey [beat]
No, sir.
Anderson [beat]
Dismissed.
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