Captain Hornblower was determined to secure his Captaincy in the British Royal Navy. Captain Hornblower reached the Royal Navy blockaded Catalonian coast and was prepared to capture prizes and disrupt Bonaparte's armies reinforcing French invaded Spain. Spain, under Viscount Welllesley, was the only country in Europe where the allies were able to fight Napoleon with some success.
Captain Hornblower took four French schooners as prizes; burned a French coaster, attacked four French warships and rescued the British fleet flagship from almost certain destruction thereby securing his Captaincy. The unfortunate fact that Barbara Wellesley was married to the Admiral was a distraction for Hornblower.
C.S. Forester wrote the equivalent of Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe Rifleman series with the action almost completely at sea. Captain Hornblower was an up and coming hero devoted to action in the most improbable scenarios. The attack by HMS Sutherland on French Armies arriving to reinforce Napoleon's Armies in Spain along the coast was revolutionary, yet, ultimately successful.
Captain Hornblower did not win every engagement. The land attack on a fortified town in Spain relying on hauling 24 pounder guns and the aid of a Spanish land force that did not materialise wa a near disaster. Fortunately, Hornblower was more than lucky and survived the hair raising retreat.
Gregory Peck acted the first three books of Hornblower, which was a credit to the series, in a Hollywood film.