The Knight in the triumph of his heart made several 6 reflections on thegreatness of the British Nation; as, that one Englishman could beat three Frenchmen; that we could never be in danger of Popery so long as we took care of our fleet; that theThames was thenoblest river in Europe; that London Bridge was a greater piece of work than any of the Seven Wonders of the World; with many other honest prejudices which naturally cleave to the heart of a true Englishman.

-Addison,Joseph
  In The Spectator, no.383, 20 May.

This ae nighte, this ae nighte, öEvery nighte and alle, Fire and fleet and candle-lighte, And Christe receive thy saule.

-Ballads
'A Lyke- Wake Dirge', opening lines.

West of these out to seas colder than the Hebrides I must go Where the fleet of stars is anchored and the young Star captains glow.

-Flecker,James Elroy
  'The Dying Patriot'.

The Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of theThames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pupils might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctityand truth of the revelation of Mahomet.

-Gibbon, Edward
^88  The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch.52.

TheThird Fleet's sunken and damaged ships have been salvaged and are retiring at high speed toward the enemy.

-Halsey,W(illiam) F(rederick) known as  'Bull' Halsey
  Comment,14 Oct, on hearing claims that the Japanese had virtually annihilated the US fleet. Quoted in E B Potter Bull Halsey (1985), ch.17.

The man must have a rare recipe for melancholy, who can be dull in Fleet Street.

-Lamb, Charles
  Letter to Thomas Manning,15 Feb. Collected in E  W Marrs Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, vol.2 (1975).

Beauteous the fleet before the gale; Beauteous the multitudes in mail, Rank'd arms and crested heads: Beauteous the garden's umbrage mild, Walk, water, meditated wild, And all the bloomy beds.

-Smart, Christopher
  A Song to David, stanza 78.

The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet, The only sweet thing that is not also fleet.

-Thomas, (Philip) Edward
  'Early One Morning'.

The whole fleet's lit up.When I say 'lit up',I mean by fairy lamps.

-Woodroofe,Thomas
  BBC radio commentary of the Spithead review, 20 May, Britain's first live outside broadcast.'Lit up' was a common euphemism for 'drunk'.