Phil's photos with the keyword: HMS Victory

A Sterling Silver £5 coin from Gibraltar, photographed with a Sony RX100 camera and processed with Nikon Capture NX2. "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 21 October 1805. Trafalgar was the decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. It gave the United Kingdom control of the seas, removing all possibility of an 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. 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'): Thus, at around 11:45 am on 21 October 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 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 (Wikipedia).