Nautical Adventure

The novel's principle setting is the high seas and coastal areas of the Baltic during a time of general war; Napoleon Bonaparte's military adventures threaten the British Empire and only a strong naval response keeps the French aggression at bay and ensures the survival of the empire. As a commodore of the Royal Navy, Hornblower's sworn and obvious duty is to foil the interests of the French and promote the security of England. He carries out his duty by utilizing his flotilla of English ships in a variety of standard and atypical methods.

The novel relates a sea voyage in the year 1812; although the voyage is fictional, it contains many historical elements and the various conflicts and combat described are derived from several historical accounts. The ships mentioned represent fictionalized ships of historically appropriate type, though the crews are entirely fictional. Many of the Russian, French, Polish...