Rear-Admiral John Pasco (1774–1853) served in the Royal Navy between 1784 and 1853, eventually rising to the rank of rear admiral. He acted as signal officer on board at the Battle of Trafalgar and notably advised on the wording of Nelson's famous signal "England expects that every man will do his duty". Early life Pasco was born on 20 December 1774 (some accounts say 29 December) and entered the Royal Navy on 4 June 1784 as captain's servant, on . In 1786 he moved to , under the command of the then Prince William Henry (later William IV), spending about 12 months on duty in the West Indies and along the coast of North America. He served on various ships after 1787 and by 1790 he had risen to the rank of midshipman under Captain John Manley on . He continued serving on various ships as midshipman and master's mate until 1795, mainly in the English Channel and West Indies. On 15 July 1795 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned to . In 1796 he joined under Lancelot Skynner (who, three years later, captained HMS Lutine on her last voyage). During his service aboard Beaulieu he assisted in the capture of St Lucia and on 27 December 1799 he became first lieutenant aboard . In 1801, while still on Immortalite, he volunteered to command a boat to cut out the French corvette Chevrette from Camaret Bay on the north coast of Brittany; however, bad weather frustrated the plan. On 7 April 1803 he was assigned to Nelson's flagship . While serving on Victory he assisted in the capture of the French 32-gun frigate , was involved in the blockade of Toulon and pursued the French squadrons in the West Indies. Trafalgar On the day of the Battle of Trafalgar Nelson appointed Pasco as signal officer. In this role he was to hoist the famous signal "England expects that every man will do his duty". Nelson asked Pasco to send the message "England confides that every man will do his duty". Pasco suggested "expects" be substituted for "confides", since the former was in the signal book, whereas confides would have to be spelt out letter-by-letter. Nelson quickly agreed to the change, Pasco recorded: Nelson then ordered "Engage the enemy more closely" to be sent. Pasco ran it up and it remained flying until shot away in the