"From November 1943, until her demise in June 1945, the American destroyer USS WILLIAM D PORTER was often hailed.....whenever she entered port or joined other Naval ships.....with the greeting....."Don't shoot, we're Republicans!"

"For half a century, the U.S. Navy kept a lid on the details of the incident that prompted this salutation. A Miami News reporter made the first public disclosure in 1958 after he stumbled upon the truth while covering a reunion of the destroyer's crew. The Pentagon reluctantly and tersely confirmed his story, but only a smattering of newspapers took notice. Fifty years ago, the "Willie D," as the PORTER was nicknamed, accidentally fired a live torpedo at the battleship USS IOWA during a practice exercise. As if this weren't bad enough, the IOWA was carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time, along with Secretary of State Cordell Hull and all of the country's WWII military brass. They were headed for the Big Three Conference in Tehran, where Roosevelt was to meet Stalin and Churchill. Had the Porter's torpedo struck the IOWA at the aiming point, the last 50-years of world history might have been quite different.

MORE--
http://www.usshancockcv19.com/histories/willie-d.htm

Thanks Gunny, I love stories like these!

http://navysite.de/cv/cv18.htm Gunny good story I remember an other one the USS Wasp CV 18 had the reptation of not being able to go to War because she was out of fuel or food or she ran over her escort.