John Pasco

John Pasco
Rear Admiral John Pasco, ca. 1850
Born	20 December 1774 England
Died	16 November 1853 East Stonehouse, England
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1784-1853
Rank	Rear Admiral
Battles/wars	Battle of Trafalgar
Relations	son Crawford Pasco (1818-1898)

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 HMS Victory 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".

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 the HMS Druid. In 1786 he moved to HMS Pegasus, 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 HMS Syren. 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 HMS Majestic. In 1796 he joined HMS Beaulieu under Lancelot Skynner (who, three years later, captained HMS Lutine on her last voyage). During his service aboard the Beaulieu he assisted in the capture of St Lucia and on 27 December 1799 he became first lieutenant aboard HMS Immortalite. 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.