The idiom turn a blind eye came from an Admiral who used his blind eye to deliberately misread ship communication flags! During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was blinded early in his Naval career, was being given instructions by the notably cautious and in-charge Admiral Sir Hyde Parker to retreat (at his discretion) from the upcoming Danes. Navy communications then consisted of flag signals and when he saw the signal to retreat, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye and said, “I really do not see the signal”. His forces then continued on to fight the Danish-Norwegian forces in what is considered one of Nelson’s feircest battles. The battle ended in a hard-fought truce, but not before Nelson destroyed many Danish-Norwegian ships. The purpose of the Battle of Copenhagen was to prevent other countries from trading with France. The League of Armed Neutrality, consisting of Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Prussia and Russia, were intent on trading with France which Britain saw as a threat, as France was in the middle of its revolutionary war.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:48:40 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015