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England expects that every man will do his duty

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1750-1900


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   The Battle of Trafalgar by J. M. W. Turner (oil on canvas, 1822–1824)
   shows the last three letters of this famous signal flying from the
   Victory.
   Enlarge
   The Battle of Trafalgar by J. M. W. Turner (oil on canvas, 1822–1824)
   shows the last three letters of this famous signal flying from the
   Victory.

   "England expects that every man will do his duty" was a signal sent by
   Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson from his flagship HMS
   Victory as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on October 21,
   1805. Trafalgar was the decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic
   Wars. It gave the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland control
   of the seas, removing all possibility of a French invasion and conquest
   of Britain. Although there was much confusion surrounding the wording
   of the signal in the aftermath of the battle, the significance of the
   victory and Nelson's death during the battle led to the phrase becoming
   embedded in the English psyche, and it has been regularly quoted,
   paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day.

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, as
   quickly as possible, the message "England confides [i.e. is confident]
   that every man will do his duty." Pasco suggested to Nelson that
   expects be substituted for confides, since the former word was in the
   signal book, whereas confides would have to be spelt out
   letter-by-letter. Nelson agreed to the change (even though 'expects'
   gave a less trusting impression than 'confides'):


   England expects that every man will do his duty

   His Lordship came to me on the poop, 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.'


   England expects that every man will do his duty

   The term England was widely used at the time to refer to the United
   Kingdom, though the British fleet included significant contingents from
   Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as England. Thus, at around 11:45
   am on October 21, 1805, the most famous naval signal in British history
   was sent. The exact time the signal was sent is not known (one account
   puts it as early as ten-thirty), as the message was repeated throughout
   the fleet and logs would have been written up after the battle, but
   Pasco puts it at "about a quarter to noon" and logs from other ships of
   the line also put it close to this time.
   Nelson's famous signal, relayed using Popham's "Telegraphic Signals of
   Marine Vocabulary".
   Enlarge
   Nelson's famous signal, relayed using Popham's "Telegraphic Signals of
   Marine Vocabulary".

   The signal was relayed using the numeric flag code known as the
   "Telegraphic Signals of Marine Vocabulary", devised in 1800 by Rear
   Admiral Sir Home Popham, and based on the signal books created earlier
   by Admiral Lord Howe. This code assigned the digits 0 to 9 to ten
   signal flags. These flags in combination represented code numbers which
   were assigned meanings by a code book, distributed to all Royal Navy
   ships and weighted with lead for disposal overboard in case of capture.
   The code numbers are believed to have been hoisted on the mizzenmast,
   one after another, with the "telegraphic flag" also being flown to show
   that the signals employed Popham's code. The word "duty" was not in the
   codebook, and was not substituted as "confides" had been (the two
   closest words "best" and "utmost" were not deemed appropriate), so had
   to be spelt out, meaning the whole message required twelve "lifts".
   (The word "duty" was coded as shown as the numbers 1-25 stood for the
   letters A-Z, without J. Moreover, in the alphabet of that time V
   preceded U.) It is believed that it would have taken about four
   minutes. A team of four to six men, led by Lt. Pasco, would have
   prepared and hoisted the flags onboard Lord Nelson's flagship HMS
   Victory. The message shows one of the shortcomings of Popham's code -
   even the two-letter "do" required three flags hoisted for the signal.
   It is reported that a great cheer went up as the signal was hoisted and
   repeated throughout the fleet.

   The message "engage the enemy more closely" was Nelson's final signal
   to the fleet, sent at 12.15 pm, before a single British cannon had been
   fired at the enemy. This message was signalled using the telegraphic
   flag and flags 1 and 6. Nelson ordered this signal hauled up and kept
   aloft. It remained up until shot away during the battle.

After the battle

   Nelson's signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty",
   flying from Victory on the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
   Enlarge
   Nelson's signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty",
   flying from Victory on the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

   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 replacing "will" with "to"). This
   version became so prevalent that it is recorded around the base of
   Nelson's Column and on his tomb in St. Paul's Cathedral. 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. In 1811, the
   tenor John Braham composed a song, "The Death of Nelson", including the
   words of the signal. The song became popular almost immediately and was
   performed throughout the British Empire during 19th century. To make
   the words fit the metre, they were altered to "England expects that
   every man this day will do his duty". This version of the wording is
   also persistent.

   Between 1885 and 1908 it was believed that the signal had been sent
   using the 1799 code book, as in 1885 it was pointed out that this had
   not been replaced until 1808. In 1908 it was discovered, the Admiralty
   had, in fact, changed the signal code in November 1803, after the 1799
   version had been captured by the French, and new code books had been
   issued to Nelson's fleet at Cadiz in September, 1805. As a result,
   books published between these two dates show the signal using the wrong
   flags.

   The signal is still hoisted on the Victory at her dry dock in
   Portsmouth on Trafalgar Day ( 21 October) every year, although the
   signal flags are displayed all at once, running from fore to aft,
   rather than hoisted from the mizzenmast.

Similar signals

   Nelson's famous signal has been imitated in other navies of the world.
   Napoleon ordered the French translation, "La France compte que chacun
   fera son devoir", to be displayed on French vessels. Before the Battle
   of Tsushima, Japanese Admiral Togo (who had studied naval science in
   England from 1871 to 1878) signalled to his fleet: "The fate of the
   Empire depends upon today's battle: let every man do his utmost".
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