The signal was sent by Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Nelson’s death during the battle led to the phrase becoming embedded in the English psyche. It has been regularly quoted, paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day.
About England expects that every man will do his duty in brief
The signal was sent by Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson from his flagship HMS Victory as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on 21 October 1805. There was much confusion surrounding the wording of the signal in the aftermath of the battle. 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. 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. The word duty was not in the codebook, so had to be spelt out, and the whole message required twelve \”lifts\”. It is believed that it would have taken about four minutes, with the end of the message indicated by an \”end of code\” flag.
It is reported that a great cheer went up as the signal was hoisted and repeated throughout the fleet. Collingwood remarked half-evishly to his flag-lieutenant: ‘I wish Nelson would make no more signals; we all understand what we have to do’ Nelson ordered this signal to be kept using the telegraphic flag and ordered this message to be announced to the ship’s company with the greatest enthusiasm. The message was sent at 12:15:p.m. before a single British cannon had been fired at the enemy. This was Nelson’s final signal to the fleet, sent at about a quarter to noon, but Pasco puts it at about 11:45:a. m. The exact time is not known, as the message was repeated through the fleet and logs from other ships of the line also put it close to this time.
You want to know more about England expects that every man will do his duty?
This page is based on the article England expects that every man will do his duty published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
