I don't think this is accurate, famously Nelson originally wanted the signal to read "England confides [is confident] that every man will do his duty" - a much more motivating message that says to all hands that Nelson (and the Nation) has every confidence in them.
His flag steward pointed out that they didn't have a shorthand signal for "confides", but did have one for "expects"; which would simplify the flag signal significantly. Rather than having the flag signal laboriously spell out every letter of C-O-N-F-I-D-E-S, Nelson instead ran up "Expects".
I don't think this is accurate, famously Nelson originally wanted the signal to read "England confides [is confident] that every man will do his duty" - a much more motivating message that says to all hands that Nelson (and the Nation) has every confidence in them.
His flag steward pointed out that they didn't have a shorthand signal for "confides", but did have one for "expects"; which would simplify the flag signal significantly. Rather than having the flag signal laboriously spell out every letter of C-O-N-F-I-D-E-S, Nelson instead ran up "Expects".