England expects that every man will do his duty
"England expects that every man will do his duty" was a signal sent by Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson from his ship HMS Victory as the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) was about to commence. Trafalgar was the decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars: it gave the United Kingdom control of the seas, removing all possibility of a Napoleonic invasion and conquest of Britain.
The phrase has entered the collective consciousness of the British, due to Lord Nelson's fame, and to the Battle of Trafalgar being taught to generations of British schoolchildren. Today "England expects…", as an abbreviated version of the phrase, is often adapted for use in the media, especially in relation to the performance of English sporting teams. Almost as famous are Nelson's last words, "Kiss me, Hardy."
Signals during the battle
As the British fleet closed with the opposing combined fleets of France and Spain, Lord Nelson signalled all the necessary battle instructions to his ships. However, aware of the momentousness of events to come, Lord Nelson felt that something extra was required. He instructed his signal officer, Lieutenant John Pasco, to signal to the fleet the message "England confides that every man will do his duty" as quickly as possible (that is, "England trusts..."). Pasco later wrote:
- "His Lordship came to me on the poop [deck], and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said. "Mr Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet, ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY:" and he added "You must be quick, for I have one more to make which is for close action." I replied, "If your Lordship will permit me to substitute the confides for expects the signal will soon be completed, because the word expects is in the vocabulary, and confides must be spelt," His Lordship replied, in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, "That will do, Pasco, make it directly." When it had been answered by a few ships in the Van, he ordered me to make the signal for close action, and to keep it up: accordingly, I hoisted No. 16 at the top-gallant mast-head, and there it remained until shot away."
At 11:45 on October 21, 1805 the most famous naval signal in history was sent.
The signal was relayed using the numeric code devised by Sir Home Popham. This code assigned the digits 0 to 9 to ten signal flags. These flags in combination represented code numbers which were assigned meaning by a code book, distributed to all Royal Navy ships and weighted with lead for disposal overboard in case of capture. The code numbers were hoisted on the mizzen-mast, one after another, with the "telegraph flag" also being flown to show that the signals employed Popham's code. The word "duty" was also not in the code book and had to be spelt out, so the whole message required twelve "lifts". This is believed to have taken about four minutes. A team of four to six men, led by Lt Pasco, would have prepared and hoisted the flags.
Immediately afterwards, the message "engage the enemy more closely" (flags 1 and 6) was signalled.
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Almost immediately, the signal began to be misquoted. A number of ships in the fleet recorded the signal as "England expects every man to do his duty," (omitting "that") and this version became so prevalent that it is recorded around the base of Nelson's Column, on his tomb in St Paul's Cathedral, and on the memorial built in 1807 by his friend and agent, Alexander Davison. However, the Victory's log and the accounts of signal officer John Pasco and Henry Blackwood (captain of the frigate Euryalus), both present at the preparation of the signal, agree on the form given here.
The signal is still hoisted on the Victory at her dry dock in Portsmouth on Trafalgar Day (October 21) every year.
See also
