Horatio Hornblower saga

His cool judgment under fire shows that young Hornblower is maturing as he repeatedly defeats the Spanish warships.

In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and...

Hornblower's new mission is a delicate one because he must maintain good diplomatic relations with Russia and Sweden at all costs and, at the same time, keep Napoleon's forces out of the Baltic.

As commander-in-chief of His Majesty's ships and vessels in the West Indies, Admiral Hornblower faces pirates, revolutionaries, and a blistering hurricane in the chaotic aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.