Horatio Hornblower

Horatio Hornblower, 1st Viscount Hornblower, GCB (4 July 1776 - 12 January 1857) is a fictional character, an officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, originally the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester, and later the subject of films and television programs.

The character is iconic in Age of Sail traditional naval fiction. There are many parallels between Hornblower and real naval officers of the period, especially Thomas Cochrane and Horatio Nelson. The name "Horatio" was inspired by the character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet and chosen also because of its similarity to that of Nelson.

Life

According to Forester, Hornblower, the son of a doctor, was born on July 4, 1776 (the date of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence) in the village of Worth, Kent. He was given a classical education, and by the time he joined the Royal Navy at age seventeen, he was well-versed in Greek and Latin. He was tutored in French by a penniless French emigré. He is also an expert mathematician, which serves him well as a navigator.

Described as "unhappy and lonely", Hornblower is chiefly characterized by his reserve and self-doubt. He regards himself as cowardly, dishonest, and, at times, disloyal. His sense of duty and a drive to succeed make these characteristics undetectable by everyone but him. His introverted nature continually isolates him from the people around him, including his closest friend, William Bush, and his wives never fully understand him. His introspection makes him a very self-conscious and lonely man, and the enforced isolation of a captain in the Royal Navy makes him lonelier still.

He suffers from severe seasickness (like Horatio Nelson) at the beginning of his voyages and plays excellent whist; he is tone-deaf and finds music an incomprehensible irritant. He is philosophically opposed to flogging and capital punishment, to the extent that he contrives an escape for his personal steward who would otherwise have been condemned to hang at the yard-arm in Hornblower and the Hotspur for a relatively minor offense.

As in the novels of Frederick Marryat and Patrick O'Brian, many of Hornblower's exploits are based upon those of Horatio Nelson and Thomas Cochrane. Brian Perett has written a book The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon, GCB, ISBN 1-55750-968-9, that presents the case for a different inspiration, James Alexander Gordon.

A "biography" of Hornblower, called The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower, was published in 1970 by C. Northcote Parkinson.

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Early career

Hornblower's early exploits are many and varied. He fends off fire ships which interrupt his first (disastrous) examination for lieutenant. Still only an acting lieutenant, he is given command of the sloop La Reve, which blunders into a Spanish fleet in the fog, resulting in Hornblower's capture and imprisonment in Ferrol [1]. He is finally confirmed as a commissioned lieutenant while still a prisoner of war. His daring rescue of some sailors from a shipwreck is rewarded by his release. As a junior lieutenant, he serves under a captain suffering from paranoid schizophrenia on a trip to the Caribbean. Returning to England, he is demobilized during the peace of Amiens, causing him great financial distress; he resorts to playing whist for a modest stipend. In 1803, he is reactivated and confirmed as commander of HMS Hotspur when hostilities resume against Napoleon. After gruelling service during the blockade of Brest, he finally is promoted to captain and recalled to England.

He organizes Nelson's funeral procession along the Thames and has to deal with the near-sinking of the barge conveying the hero's coffin. Later, he secretly recovers sunken gold and silver from the bottom of Marmorice Bay within the Ottoman Empire with the aid of pearl divers from Ceylon, narrowly escaping a Turkish warship at the end. Upon unloading the treasure and refitting, his ship is given out from under him to the King of the Two Sicilies for diplomatic reasons. On his return to England, he finds his two young children dying of smallpox. He later makes a long, difficult voyage round the Horn to the Pacific, where he supports a madman, El Supremo, in his rebellion against the Spanish. He captures a much more powerful ship of the line, then reluctantly cedes it to El Supremo to placate him. When he finds that the Spanish have switched sides in the interim, he is forced to find and sink the ship he had once taken. On his return voyage, he and his well-connected passenger, Lady Barbara Wellesley, the fictional young sister of Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington) become dangerously attracted to each other.

Later career

After these exploits, he is given command of HMS Sutherland, a seventy four gun ship of the line. While waiting at his Mediterranean rendezvous point for the rest of his squadron - and its commander - to arrive, he carries out a series of raids against the French along the south coast of Spain. He learns that a French squadron of four sail of the line is loose, having slipped the blockade. He decides that his duty requires that he fight at four-to-one odds to prevent them from entering a well-protected harbor. In the process, his ship is crippled and, with two-thirds of the crew incapacitated, he surrenders to the French.

He is sent with his coxswain, Brown, and his injured first lieutenant, Bush, to Paris for a show trial and execution. During the journey, Hornblower and his companions escape, and after a winter sojourn at the chateau of the Comte de Graçay, navigate down the river Loire to the coastal city of Nantes. There he recaptures a Royal Navy cutter, the Witch of Endor, mans the vessel with a gang of slave laborers and escapes to the Channel Fleet.

Hornblower faces a court-martial for the loss of the Sutherland but is "most honorably acquitted." Among the honours he receives is a knighthood. When he arrives home, he discovers that his first wife Maria had died in childbirth and that his infant son is in the care of Lady Barbara. He marries Lady Barbara, the widow of his deceased former commander, after a decent interval and lives (uncomfortably) as a country squire in Kent.

Freedom from this purgatory comes when he is promoted to commodore and sent on a mission to the Baltic, where he must be a diplomat as much as an officer. He foils an assassination attempt on the Russian Czar and is influential in the ruler's decision to resist the French invasion of his vast country. He provides invaluable assistance in the defense of Riga against the French army, where he meets Carl von Clausewitz.

He returns ill with typhus to England, yet soon after his recovery goes off to deal with mutineers off the coast of France. After taking the mutinous ship by trickery, he sets up the return of the Bourbons to France, and is created a peer as Baron Hornblower, of Smallbridge in the County of Kent. When Napoleon returns from exile at the start of the Hundred Days, Hornblower is at the estate of the Comte de Graçay. He leads a Royalist Guerrilla movement; after capture by the French, he is about to be shot under an earlier warrant for his execution when he is saved by news of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

After several years ashore, he is promoted to Admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies. He foils an attempt by veterans of Napoleon's Imperial Guard to free Napoleon from his captivity on Saint Helena, captures a slave ship, and encounters Simón Bolívar's army. He retires to Kent and eventually becomes Admiral of the Fleet.

His final, improbable achievement occurs at his home, when he assists a seemingly-mad man claiming to be Napoleon to travel to France. That person turns out to be Napoleon III, the nephew of Hornblower's great nemesis and the future president (and later emperor in his own right) of France. For his assistance, Lord Hornblower is created a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and in 1850 he receives his final honour by being created Viscount Hornblower, of Smallbridge in the County of Kent, and Baron Maidstone, of Boxley in the County of Kent. He eventually dies at his home in Kent in January 1857 at the age of eighty.

Forester offers two different brief summaries of Hornblower's career. The first was in the first chapter of The Happy Return, which was the first Hornblower novel written. The second occurs mid-way through The Commodore, when Czar Nicholas asks him to describe his career. The second account is incompatible with the first. The first account would have made Hornblower about five years older than the second. The second account is more nearly compatible with the rest of Hornblower's career, but it omits the time he spent as a Commander in Hornblower and the Hotspur. There are other discrepancies as well such as the accounting of his role in the defeat of a Spanish frigate in the Mediterranean. In one account, he distinguished himself as Lieutenant and in another he is a post-Captain with less than three years seniority. It appears that these discrepancies arose as the series matured and accounts needed to be modified to coincide with his age and career.

The Hornblower novels

The novels, in the order they were written:

The Happy Return (1937, called Beat to Quarters in the US)
A Ship of the Line (1938, called simply Ship of the Line in the US)
Flying Colours (1938, spelled Flying Colors in some US editions)
The Commodore (1945, called Commodore Hornblower in the US)
Lord Hornblower (1946)
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950, collected short stories)
Lieutenant Hornblower (1952)
Hornblower and the Atropos (1953)
Hornblower in the West Indies (1958, Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies in some US editions)
Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962)
Hornblower and the Crisis (1967, unfinished novel and short stories, Hornblower During the Crisis in some US editions)

In chronological order:

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (collected short stories)
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower and the Crisis (unfinished novel and short stories, Hornblower During the Crisis in some US editions)
Hornblower and the Atropos
The Happy Return (called Beat to Quarters in the US)
A Ship of the Line (called simply Ship of the Line in the US)
Flying Colours (spelled Flying Colors in some US editions)
The Commodore (called Commodore Hornblower in the US)
Lord Hornblower
Hornblower in the West Indies (Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies in some US editions)

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the Hotspur were compiled in one book, variously titled Hornblower's Early Years, Horatio Hornblower Goes to Sea, or The Young Hornblower. There are also simplified "cadet" collections of the Hornblower books for children.

Hornblower and the Atropos, The Happy Return and A Ship of the Line were also compiled into one omnibus edition, called Captain Hornblower.

In the US Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours were also compiled into one book, called Captain Horatio Hornblower.

Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, and Hornblower in the West Indies make up a third omnibus edition called Admiral Hornblower to fill out the series.

The Hornblower short stories

Three short stories by C. S. Forester about Hornblower were also published in 1940 and 1941. The stories are:

Hornblower's Charitable Offering (aka The Bad Samaritan), published in Argosy, May 1941, and was originally intended as a chapter for A Ship of the Line. Hornblower and His Majesty, in Collier's, March 1940, and in Argosy, March 1941. The Hand of Destiny, in Collier's, November 1940.

Two other stories Hornblower And The Widow McCool (aka Hornblower's Temptation) (1967) and The Last Encounter (1967), are often included with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis.

Another short story The Point And The Edge is included as an outline only in The Hornblower Companion (1964), a book in which Forester describes and illustrates with maps the incidents which his fictional hero experienced, and describes how the novels were written, what inspired them and how they relate to the real world of the Royal Navy.

Hornblower's shipmates

A list of all the Royal Naval sea-going characters in the Hornblower novels:

Captain Baddlestone — Water-Hoy Princess (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Bailey — Gun room Steward, HMS Hotspur, HMS Lydia (Hornblower and the Hotspur, The Happy Return)
Benskin — Seaman, HMS Lydia, Helmsman, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Berry — Gunner's Mate, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Black — Captain of the Forecastle, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Black — Seaman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Lieutenant Bolton — HMS Indefatigable, later as Captain, HMS Caligula (Mr Midshipman Hornblower, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours)
Booth — Bo's'un, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Bowles — Master, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Anthony Bracegirdle — Midshipman, HMS Indefatigable, later Flag-Lieutenant to Lord St Vincent (Mr Midshipman Hornblower, Hornblower and the Atropos)
Braun — Captain's Clerk, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Bromley — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Brown, Captain's Coxswain, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland, Captain's Steward, HMS Nonsuch — Hornblower's faithful and burly coxswain, and later domestic servant. (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, The Last Encounter)
Lieutenant Buckland — First Lieutenant, HMS Renown (Hornblower and the Widow McCool, Lieutenant Hornblower)
Lieutenant (later Captain) William Bush — Hornblower's "closest friend" and loyal subordinate. Briefly his superior officer, but happy for Hornblower (and more happily for Bush) to be promoted over him. (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis, The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower)
Caldwell — Midshipman, HMS Goliath (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Calendar — Captain of the Fleet to Admiral James Gambier (Flying Colours)
Calverly — Master's Mate, HMS Porta Coeli (Lord Hornblower)
Carberry — Master, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Alexander Cargill — Master's Mate, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant Carlin — Second Lieutenant, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Carlow — HMS Porta Coeli (Lord Hornblower)
Carslake, Purser, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Carson — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Cavendish — First Lieutenant, HMS Pluto (A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Chadd — Second Lieutenant, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Augustine Chadwick — former Commander of HMS Flame (Lord Hornblower)
Lieutenant Chalk — HMS Goliath (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Chambers — HMS Naiad (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Chapman — Royal Marine, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Chapman — Seaman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Cheeseman — First Class Volunteer, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant Christie — HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Chump the Negro — Seaman, HMS Lydia (missing in action) (The Happy Return)
Clarke — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland, Prize-Master of the Brig Amélie (A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Clay — First Lieutenant, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Clay — Midshipman, HMS Lydia (killed in action) (The Happy Return)
Cleveland — Midshipman, HMS Justinian (acts as Hornblower's second during a duel) (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
James Clifton — Boatswain's Mate, HMS Lydia (killed in action) (The Happy Return)
Doctor Clive — Surgeon, HMS Renown (Hornblower and the Widow McCool, Lieutenant Hornblower)
Clough — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Clout — Gunner, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Clynes — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Drum-Major Cobb — Commander of the Royal Marine Band, Kingston, Jamaica (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Captain James Edward Cogshill, pro. tem. HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Commander Cole — HMS Raven (The Commodore)
Captain "Perfecto" Coleman — HMS Triton (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Coleman — Surgeon's Mate, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Captain Collins — First Captain to Admiral Cornwallis (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Frederick Cooke — HMS Cassandra (A Ship of the Line)
Cope — Midshipman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Lieutenant Charles Cotârd — HMS Marlborough (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Courtney — HMS Marguerite (The Hand of Destiny)
Crawley — Master's Mate, HMS Porta Coeli, Acting-First Lieutenant, HMS Flame (Lord Hornblower)
Cray — Seaman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Captain George Crome — HMS Syrtis (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Crystal — Master, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Cuffe — HMS Marguerite (killed in action) (The Hand of Destiny)
Cummings — First Class Volunteer, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Bill Cummings — Seaman, Yacht Bride of Abydos (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Cutler — Gunner, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Danvers — Master's Mate, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Dawkins — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Dawson — Seaman, HMS Lydia (missing in action) (The Happy Return)
Colonel Dobbs — Royal Marines, Assistant Adjutant-General (Lord Hornblower)
James Doughty — Captain's Steward, HMS Hotspur (deserted) (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Douglas — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Downes — Seaman, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Drake — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Duff — Seaman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Lieutenant Duncan — HMS Moth (The Commodore)
Lieutenant Eccles — First Lieutenant, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Doctor Baron Otto von Eisenbeiss — Surgeon, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Captain Elliot — HMS Pluto (A Ship of the Line)
Evans — Head Gardener, Admiralty House, Kingston, Jamaica (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Fatty — Cook's Mate, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Captain Sir Thomas Fell — HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Lieutenant Field — HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Finch — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Firth — Seaman, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Fletcher — Seaman, HMS Marguerite (The Hand of Destiny)
Captain Ford — HMS Clara (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Captain Ford, HMS Nightingale (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Foreman — First Class Volunteer, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Foster — HMS Dreadnought (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Rear-Admiral Harry Foster — Port-Admiral, Plymouth (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Franklin — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (killed in action) (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Freeman — HM Cutter Clam, HM Brig Porta Coeli (The Commodore, Lord Hornblower)
Lieutenant Donald Scott Galbraith — Third Lieutenant, HMS Lydia (killed in action) (The Happy Return)
Garton — Seaman, HMS Marguerite (leader of the mutineers) (The Hand of Destiny)
Lieutenant Gerard — Second Lieutenant, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (captured) (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Gerard — Midshipman, HMS Nonsuch, Flag-Lieutenant to Admiral Hornblower (nephew of Lieutenant Gerard) (The Commodore, Hornblower In The West Indies)
Gibbons — Master's Mate, HMS Porta Coeli (Lord Hornblower)
Giles — Captain's Steward, HMS Crab (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Goddard — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Gray — Master's Mate, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Corporal Greenwood — Royal Marine, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
John Grimes — Captain's Steward, HMS Hotspur (listed killed in action, actually committed suicide) (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Gurney — Gunner, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
Hake — Royal Marines (Lord Hornblower)
Hales — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Hall — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Captain Charles Hammond — HMS Calypso (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Dr Hankey — Ship's Surgeon, HMS Lydia (dies before the start of novel) (The Happy Return)
Hannay — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Harcourt — HMS Crab (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Harding — Seaman, HMS Flame (Lord Hornblower)
Harkness — Steward to Admiral Collingwood, HMS Ocean (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Harper — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (missing presumed lost) (The Happy Return)
Harrison — Boatswain, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Hornblower's Charitable Offering)
John Hart — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland (killed in action) (A Ship of the Line)
Hart — Master's Mate, HMS Renown, Prizemaster of the Esperance (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
Captain Harvey — Superintendent of the Gibraltar Dockyard (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Hau — 60th Rifles, Military Adjutant (Lord Hornblower)
Dr Hepplewhite — Surgeon, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Herbert — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Hether — Midshipman, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Hewitt — Captain's Coxswain, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Hibbert — Member of the Court of Inquiry into the voyage of HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Hobbs — Acting-Gunner, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Captain Holmes — Superintendent of Kingston Dockyard (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Holroyd — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Hooker — Midshipman, HMS Lydia, Lieutenant, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Horrocks — Midshipman, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Captain Hosier — HMS Fame (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Howard — HMS Camilla (Lord Hornblower)
Howell — Carpenter, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Hudnutt — Royal Marine Bandsman (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Hudson — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Huffnell — Purser, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
Hunt — Midshipman, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Hunter — Midshipman, HMS Indefatigable, Acting-Lieutenant, Prize-ship Le Rêve (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Hunter — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Hurst — First Lieutenant, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Jackson — Coxswain of the Jolly Boat, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
James — Midshipman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
James — HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Jenkins — Seaman, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Jenkins — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
James Johnson, Ordinary Seaman, HMS Hotspur (killed in action) (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Henry Jones — Royal Marines, seconded to HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant John Jones (the 9th) — First Lieutenant, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Jones — Midshipman, HMS Harvey (The Commodore)
Jones — Seaman, HMS Crab (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Jordan — Under-Coxwain of the Long Boat, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Keene — HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Charlie Kemp, Seaman, Yacht Bride of Abydos (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Kennedy — Midshipman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Knyvett — Packet Boat Pretty Jane (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Knyvett — Midshipman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Major Laird — Royal Marines (A Ship of the Line)
Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Lambert — Commander-In-Chief, West Indies (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Laurie — Purser's Steward, Acting-Surgeon's Mate, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Leadbitter — Coxswain, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Ledly — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Admiral Sir Percy Gilbert Leighton (A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours)
Lewis — Carpenter's Mate, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Livingstone — Third Lieutenant, HMS Camilla (Lord Hornblower)
Lomax — Purser, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Longley — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Dr Low — Surgeon, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
MacEvoy — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Mackenzie — Midshipman, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Mallory — HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Marsh, Gunner — HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Martin — Captain's Clerk, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant Masters — HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Matthews — Senior Topman, HMS Indefatigable, Acting-Petty Officer, Prize-ship Marie Galante (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Maxwell — Coxswain of the Longboat, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Mayne — Bosun's Mate, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
William McCullum — Wreck Master and Salvage Director of the Coromandel Coast, The Honourable East India Company (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Commander James Percival Meadows — HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Captain Melville — HMS Cormorant (Hornblower and His Majesty)
Lieutenant Sylvanus Montgomery — Second Lieutenant, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Lieutenant Moore — HMS Pluto (A Ship of the Line)
Morkell — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Captain Morris — Royal Marines, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Percival Mound — HM Bomb Harvey (killed in action) (The Commodore)
Muggridge — Surgeon's Mate, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Nash — Master's Mate, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Nelson — Midshipman's Steward, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Captain Newton — HMS Hibernia (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Noakes — HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Captain Norman — Royal Marines, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
North — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Oldroyd — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Orrack — First Class Volunteer, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Owen — Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
William Owen — Seaman, HMS Flame (Lord Hornblower)
Owens — Gunner, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Parker — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Admiral Lord Parry, Lord of the Admiralty (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Partridge — Bo's'un's Mate, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lieutenant Payne — HMS Renown (Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
Lieutenant Peterson — Third Lieutenant, HMS Marguerite (The Hand of Destiny)
Phillips — Maintopman, HMS Pluto (Flying Colours)
Pierce — Surgeon's Mate, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Polwheal — Captain's Steward, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Poole — Master, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Poole — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Potter — Sailmaker, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Preston — Master's Mate, HMS Justinian (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Price — Master-At-Arms, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Prince (His Serene Highness Prince Ernst of Sietz-Bunau) — Midshipman, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Prowse — Master, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
Lieutenant Purvis — First Lieutenant, HMS Lotus (The Commodore)
Purvis — Master's Mate, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Rear-Admiral Henry Ransome — Commander-In-Chief in the West Indies (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Lieutenant Rayner — Fourth Lieutenant, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Reid — Royal Marines, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant Roberts — Second Lieutenant, HMS Renown (killed in action) (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
Lieutenant Roberts — Second Lieutenant, HMS Marguerite (The Hand of Destiny)
Captain Rotherham — HMS Ocean (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Saddler — Midshipman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Sanderson — Seaman, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Dr Sankey — Surgeon , Kingston Naval Station (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Sansome — Seaman, Water-Hoy Princess (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Howard Savage — Midshipman, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (killed in action) (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Captain Sawyer — HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
Lieutenant Sefton — First Lieutenant, HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Captain Seymour — Royal Marine, HMS Clorinda (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Sheldon — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Silk — Bo's'un's Mate, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Lieutenant Samuel Simmonds — Royal Marines, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Simmonds — Ship's Cook, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Simms — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
John Simpson — Senior Midshipman, former Acting-Lieutenant, HMS Justinian (fights duel with Hornblower) (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Smiley — Midshipman, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Captain Smith, HMS Doris (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Lieutenant Smith — Fourth Lieutenant, HMS Renown (killed in action) (Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Widow McCool)
Smith — Seaman, HMS Lydia (killed in a scuffle) (The Happy Return)
Soames — Master, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Somers — Midshipman, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Erasmus Spendlove — Admiral's Secretary (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Stebbings — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Lieutenant Still — Second Lieutenant, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Styles — Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Sullivan — Seaman, HMS Lydia, Sutherland (fiddler) (A Ship of the Line, The Happy Return)
John Summers — Master's Mate, HMS Lydia (killed in action) (The Happy Return)
Nathaniel Sweet — Bo'sun's Mate, HMS Flame (leader of the mutineers, shot by Hornblower) (Lord Hornblower)
Swenson — Sailmaker's Mate, HMS Porta Coeli (Lord Hornblower)
Lieutenant Sylvester — Flag Lieutenant To Admiral Leighton, HMS Pluto (A Ship of the Line)
Thompson — Captain of the Fo'c'sle, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Tom — Ordinary Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Tooms — Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Tooth — Master, HMS Nonsuch (The Commodore)
Truscott — Midshipman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
George Turner — Master, HMS Atropos (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Commander William Vickery — HMS Lotus (The Commodore)
Vincent — Midshipman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Henry Vincent — Boatswain's Mate, HMS Lydia (killed in action) (The Happy Return)
Wade — Royal Marine, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Waites — Seaman, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Waldron — Bo's'un, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Wales — Ship's Carpenter, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Dr Wallis — Surgeon, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
Dr Walsh — Surgeon, HMS Sutherland (A Ship of the Line)
Washburn — Cooper's Mate, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Henry Wellard — Midshipman, HMS Renown (later drowned) (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Wells, Seaman, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Whipple — Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Lieutenant White — First Lieutenant, Royal Yacht Augusta (Hornblower and His Majesty)
Captain Whiting — Royal Marine, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Wilcox — Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return),
Williams — Seaman, HMS Lydia (The Happy Return)
Wilson — Carpenter's Mate, HMS Harvey (The Commodore)
Henry Wilson — Seaman and Mutineer, HMS Flame (Lord Hornblower)
Winyatt — Master's Mate, HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Wise — Boatswain, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
Wood — Purser, HMS Lydia, HMS Sutherland (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line)
Woolton — Midshipman, HMS Renown (Lieutenant Hornblower)
Young — First Class Volunteer, HMS Hotspur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)

Real Royal Naval officers who appear in the novels

Vice-Admiral The Honourable Sir Henry Blackwood (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Admiral Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) (Flying Colours)
Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Admiral The Honourable Sir William Cornwallis (Hornblower and the Widow McCool, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Atropos)
Admiral Lord James Gambier (Flying Colours)
Rear-Admiral Lord Alan Gardner, second in command to Admiral Cornwallis (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain John Gore — HMS Medusa (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Richard Grindall — HMS Prince (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Graham Eden Hammond — HMS Lively (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy — HMS Triumph (Flying Colours)
Admiral Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (Hornblower and the Atropos, Lord Hornblower)
Captain Charles John Moore Mansfield — HMS Minotaur (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Graham Moore — HMS Indefatigable (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Rear-Admiral Sir William Parker (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Lord Henry Paulet — HMS Terrible (Hornblower and the Hotspur)
Captain Edward Pellew (later Admiral Pellew, Viscount Exmouth) — HMS Indefatigable (Mr Midshipman Hornblower, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Lord Hornblower)
Admiral Sir Sir James Saumarez, Baron de Saumarez — HMS Temeraire (The Happy Return)
Captain Samuel Sutton — HMS Amphion (Hornblower and the Hotspur)

Other real historical figures

Aleksandr Pavlovich Romanov, Tsar Alexander I of Russia (The Commodore)
Sir John Barrow — Second Secretary to the Admiralty (Hornblower and the Crisis)
Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck (Hornblower and the Atropos)
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (The Last Encounter)
General Count Pierre Jacques Etienne Cambronne (erstwhile commander of the Imperial Guard) (Hornblower In The West Indies)
Colonel Karl Philip Gottlieb von Clausewitz (The Commodore)
Lord Conyngham (Flying Colours)
General Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Lady Matilda Dalrymple-Hamilton (Mr Midshipman Hornblower)
Duke d'Angoulême (the future King Louis XIX) (Lord Hornblower)
Duchess d'Angoulême, (the daughter of King Louis XVI) (Lord Hornblower)
General Hans Karl von Diebitsch (Commodore Hornblower)
John Hookham Frere (Flying Colours)
General-Lieutenant Ivan Nikolaevich Essen (The Commodore)
King George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (Hornblower and His Majesty)
George Augustus Frederick, The Prince Regent (later King George IV) (Flying Colours)
William Marsden — Secretary to the Lords of the Admiralty (Hornblower and the Crisis)
General Count Sebastian Francisco de Miranda (Hornblower and the Crisis)
General Count Louis Marie Jacques Alamaric Narbonne-Lara (The Commodore)
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (Flying Colours)
Spencer Perceval — Prime Minister of Britain (Flying Colours)
Richard Colley Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington, Marquis Wellesley (A brother of Hornblower's fictional wife, Lady Barbara Wellesley) (The Commodore)
General Hans David Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg (The Commodore)

Hornblower's ships

Justinian, a ship-of-the-line (Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Midshipman)
Indefatigable, 44-gun razé (Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Midshipman, Acting Lieutenant)
Renown, 74-gun two-decker (Lieutenant Hornblower, Lieutenant)
Retribution, 18-gun sloop-of-war (Lieutenant Hornblower, Commander)
Hotspur, 20-gun sloop-of-war (Hornblower and the Hotspur, Commander)
Atropos, 22-gun large sloop-of-war (Hornblower and the Atropos, Junior Post-Captain)
Lydia, 36-gun frigate (The Happy Return, Senior Post-Captain)
Natividad, 50-gun, two deck frigate (Captured, The Happy Return)
Sutherland, 74-gun, two-decker (A Ship of the Line, Captain)
Witch of Endor, 10-gun cutter (recaptured from the French, Flying Colours)
Nonsuch, 74-guns (The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, Commodore, first class)
Lotus, Raven, sloops (The Commodore)
Moth, Harvey, bomb-ketches (The Commodore)
Clam, cutter (The Commodore)
Flame and Porta Coeli, 18-gun brigs-of-war (Lord Hornblower)
Camilla, 36-gun flush-decked frigate (Lord Hornblower)
Crab, schooner (The Commodore, Hornblower in the West Indies)
Phoebe, Clorinda, Roebuck, frigates (Hornblower in the West Indies, Admiral and Commander-in-Chief)

Hornblower in other media

The 1951 film Captain Horatio Hornblower starred Gregory Peck in the title role, encompassing the events in The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours, with C.S. Forester sharing writing credits.
The ITV and A&E television series Hornblower (1998–2003) starred Ioan Gruffudd as Hornblower, and included stories from Mr. Midshipman Hornblower up to Hornblower and the Hotspur.
Hornblower makes an appearance in the novel, Sails on the Horizon.

Influence on other Fiction

The Star Trek character James T. Kirk was originally also modelled after Hornblower. Nicholas Meyer, director of some of the most well regarded Star Trek films, frequently cites Horatio Hornblower as one of his primary influences.
The science fiction character John Grimes is acknowledged by his author A. Bertram Chandler to be not only based upon Horatio Hornblower, but has Hornblower himself as a distant relative.
The Honor Harrington science fiction series by David Weber is heavily influenced by the Hornblower series.
The Hope science fiction series by David Fentuch is heavily influenced by the Hornblower series.

External links