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"England expects that every man will do his duty" was a signal sent by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, from his flagship as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on 21 October 1805. Trafalgar was a decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. It gave the United Kingdom 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. 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 (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 it produced a less trusting impression):〔; reprinted and abridged from 〕 Thus, at around 11:45 a.m. on 21 October 1805, the most famous naval signal in British history was sent.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=England Expects )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Trafalgar signals )〕 The exact time the signal was sent is not known (one account puts it as early as 10:30), 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.〔 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, which were used in combination. Code numbers 1–25 represented letters of the alphabet (omitting J and with V=20 before U=21);〔 higher numbers were assigned meanings by a code book. 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. As well as digit flags, the code used "repeat" flags so that only one set of digits was needed; thus the word "do", coded as "220", used a "2" flag, a "first repeat" flag here serving as a second 2, and a "0" flag. The word "duty" was not in the codebook (and was not replaced as "confides" had been), so had to be spelt out, and the whole message required twelve "lifts". 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 . 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 p.m.,〔 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「England expects that every man will do his duty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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