A Ship of the Line
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| Author | C. S. Forester |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Horatio Hornblower series |
| Genre(s) | Fiction |
| Publisher | Back Bay Books |
| Released | September 30, 1985 (Reprint edition) |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pages |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-31628-936-1 |
| Preceded by | The Happy Return |
| Followed by | Flying Colours |
This historical seafaring novel by C. S. Forester follows his fictional hero Horatio Hornblower during his tour as captain of a ship of the line. By an internal chronology, A Ship of the Line, which follows The Happy Return, is the seventh book in the series (counting the unfinished Hornblower and the Crisis). However, the book, published in 1938, was the second Horatio Hornblower novel completed by Forester.
[edit] Plot summary
Hornblower has recently returned to England in the frigate HMS Lydia, having gained widespread fame as a result of sinking the superior ship Natividad in battle, but no financial stability. As dubious reward for his services, he is given command of HMS Sutherland, which is, by Hornblower's estimation, the ugliest ship of the line in the service. He is assigned to serve under Rear Admiral Leighton, Lady Barbara Wellesley's husband. Throughout, Hornblower is torn between his puppy-like love to Lady Barbara and his sense of duty and loyalty to his frumpy wife, Maria. His feelings for his wife are magnified with the previous loss of both of his children to smallpox.
Hornblower's first orders are to escort an East Indian convoy to safety off the Spanish coast. He boldly defends them from two simultaneous attacks from privateers. Since he has been plagued by a lack of crew, and forced to work with "lubbers, sheepstealers, and bigamists", he breaks admiralty regulations and presses twenty men from each vessel in the convoy as they part ways. Now fully manned, Hornblower wreaks havoc on the French-controlled Spanish coast. His notable actions include taking a French brig by surprise, storming a French fort, taking two more vessels as prizes, raking several thousand undefended French soldiers along a coastal road, and saving his Admiral's ship from certain ruin by towing it away from a French battery during a severe storm.
In the last battle described in the book, Hornblower is forced to surrender following single-handedly disabling four French ships of the line. With most of his men killed or wounded and his ship dismasted, he is forced to strike his colors.
| Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester |
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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower • Lieutenant Hornblower • Hornblower and the Hotspur • Hornblower and the Crisis • Hornblower and the Atropos • The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters) • A Ship of the Line • Flying Colours • The Commodore • Lord Hornblower • Hornblower in the West Indies |
