I can't remember which ship, but there was a USN WW II aircraft carrier which had to be moored at harbor without an available tugboat, and the captain ordered all the planes on the flight deck to be died down tight and then to have their engines run with the propellers in maximum power position, to move the ship sideways (no thrusters on carriers back then). Is this what you are referring to?
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Name the largest (and perhaps only) USN ship to have been propelled by aviation propeller engines (no joke).