“England expects…”

Admiral Lord Nelson’s last signal to the fleet at Trafalgar was: “Engage the enemy more closely.” Given that the British fleet, in two columns, was sailing as fast as it could in light airs, this was perhaps more a morale-boosting exhortation than an order, like his celebrated previous signal, “England expects…”

However, in his insistence on close action, Nelson followed British tradition. Admiral Geary, commanding the Channel Fleet in 1780 and tiring of his Rear Admiral’s love of manoeuvres, said, “Now my dear Kempy [Kempenfelt], do for God’s sake oblige me by throwing your signals overboard and make that which we all understand – ‘Bring the enemy to close action’.”

As the great naval historian Corbett wrote in 1905, “Throughout the sailing period the dominant weapon was the gun.” The tactics of close action at sea were founded on an understanding of the capabilities of the smoothbore gun. British gunnery was intended to disable an enemy ship by destroying her gun decks and inflicting