111-738: Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott " C. S. " Forester , was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars . The Hornblower novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Other works include The African Queen and The Good Shepherd , both of which were later adapted as movies. During World War II , he moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked for
222-504: A "biography" of him, The True Story of Horatio Hornblower . Forester's series about Hornblower tales began with the novel The Happy Return (US title: Beat to Quarters ), published in 1937. Herein, Hornblower is a captain on a secret mission to Central America in 1808. Later stories fill out his career, starting with his unpromising beginning as a seasick midshipman . As the Napoleonic Wars progress, he steadily gains promotion as
333-493: A "very well written script" one of the few in his career that he barely altered. "It was more like a detective story," said Gilbert. Gilbert was offered the film by John Brabourne. They decided to shoot the film in black and white in order to intercut it with newsreel footage and to make it seem more authentic. The film credits identify the actual Director of Operations as Capt. R. A. B. Edwards and "Capt. Shepard" as fictional. The Shepard-Davis interplay added human interest to
444-456: A Pole" as she went, but none of her shots found their mark. The aircraft that finally located Bismarck after she escaped detection by HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk is correctly shown as a Catalina , but the fact that it was piloted by an American Naval Reserve officer, Ensign Leonard Smith, could not be revealed until long after the war, since the United States was neutral at the time of
555-502: A character called Horatio Howard Brenton , and attributing great feats and adventures to him. It is possible that Forester found some inspiration in these stories for his own Horatio Hornblower . Forester died in Fullerton, California on 2 April 1966. John Forester wrote a two-volume biography of his father, including many elements of Forester's life which became clear to his son only after his father's death. In addition to providing
666-537: A daunting task. The film shows Lütjens ordering Captain Ernst Lindemann to open fire on HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales . In reality, Lütjens ordered Lindemann to avoid engaging HMS Hood ; Lindemann refused and ordered the ship's guns to open fire. A revival of interest in the Bismarck was reflected in numerous publications that followed the film, as well as a variety of scale models that were produced. When
777-400: A documentary-style technique, switching back-and-forth from a fairly insular war room to action taking place on remote battleships. The action is made more realistic when the human element of men in a game of wits and nerves is involved. The use of Edward R. Murrow reprising his wartime broadcasts from London also lends an air of authenticity and near-documentary feel. Lewis Gilbert said it was
888-570: A false flag to enter a French-held harbour despite him raising the British ensign before opening fire. During the journey, Hornblower and his companions escape. After a winter sojourn at the chateau of the Comte de Graçay, during which he has an affair with the nobleman's widowed daughter-in-law, the escapees travel down the River Loire to the coastal city of Nantes . There, he recaptures a Royal Navy cutter ,
999-583: A fighter pilot, and this prompted Dahl to write his first story, "A Piece of Cake". Forester wrote many novels, but he is best known for the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series about an officer in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars . He began the series with Hornblower a captain in the first novel, The Happy Return , which was published in 1937, but demand for more stories led him to fill in Hornblower's life story, and he wrote novels detailing his rise from
1110-769: A fjord is shown as two different versions, each with different canopies . Sink the Bismarck! simplifies the movements of HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales in the battle. The film shows an early order to turn to allow the British ships to fire full broadsides. In reality, they sought to close the distance first, presenting smaller targets to the German ships but using only their forward gun turrets which reduced their firepower advantage by eight big guns, while Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were firing full broadsides of all their main guns . The film does not show that HMS Hood mistook heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen for Bismarck , at first firing at
1221-438: A fluent knowledge of both Galician and Spanish , and is finally confirmed as a commissioned lieutenant. He leads a daring rescue of Spanish crewmen from a shipwreck during a storm, which leads to his being picked up by a British warship patrolling offshore; since he had given his Spanish captors his parole that he would not escape, though, he insists upon being returned to captivity. The Spanish release him for his bravery. As
SECTION 10
#17331255121771332-666: A junior lieutenant, he serves in HMS Renown under Captain Sawyer, whose bouts of paranoia on a mission to the Caribbean strain discipline to breaking point. On this voyage, he begins his long friendship with William Bush, at the time his senior in rank. Due to his exploits, Hornblower is made commander , but his promotion is not confirmed when he returns to England following the Peace of Amiens . This causes him great financial distress; he has to repay
1443-417: A large angled flight deck and a massive Type 984 "searchlight" radar ; the same ship is also used to depict HMS Ark Royal sailing from Gibraltar. All flying from both carriers was filmed aboard HMS Centaur – clearly marked with her postwar pennant number R06 – and three surviving Fairey Swordfish aircraft were restored, of which two were flown from her flight deck. These three aircraft now form
1554-515: A peace was obtained months before in another part because of the time required to communicate around the world. The burdens that this placed on captains far from home led Forester to invent a character struggling with the stresses of a "man alone". Many parallels exist between Hornblower and real naval officers of the period, notably Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson , Sir George Cockburn , Lord Cochrane , Sir Edward Pellew , Jeremiah Coghlan , Sir James Gordon , and Sir William Hoste . The actions of
1665-552: A result of his skill and daring, despite his initial poverty and lack of influential friends. After surviving many adventures in a wide variety of locales, he rises to become Admiral of the Fleet . Forester's original inspiration was an old copy of the Naval Chronicle that described the effective dates of the Treaty of Ghent . Two countries could be at war in one part of the world after
1776-575: A strong personal story which Sink the Bismarck! did not. And the battle did not involve the USA at all. (This led to Gilbert turning down the offer of a significant percentage of the profits in Sink the Bismarck! which he later regretted. In 1996 he said he was still receiving some money from it. ) The film was More's most successful picture in the US. The Johnny Horton song " Sink the Bismarck ", which reached No. 3 on both
1887-505: A sunken British transport on the bottom of Marmorice Bay within the Ottoman Empire with the aid of pearl divers from Ceylon . The operation is successful, though Hornblower has a narrow escape from a Turkish warship intent on capturing the gold. After unloading the treasure at Gibraltar, Atropos and another British warship capture a large Spanish frigate after a desperate battle. In the friendly port of Palermo , Hornblower oversees
1998-530: A talented whist player. He uses his ability at whist to supplement his income during a poverty-stricken period of inactivity. Due to time spent as a prisoner of war early in his career, he is adept in both French and Spanish, which frequently proves useful in when fighting ships of those nationalities. With Hornblower, C. S. Forester is credited with inventing the naval historical novel . Stephanie Jones called Hornblower "the most renowned sailor in contemporary fiction". Igor Webb noted that Forester intended for
2109-482: A viscount (in 1850), and Admiral of the Fleet, dying at the age of 80 on 12 January 1857. This biography has confused some readers, who have taken it as a factual work. Parkinson includes in Horatio's family tree a number of real-life Hornblowers. They include: The Hornblower canon by Forester consists of 11 novels (one unfinished) and five short stories. In addition, The Hornblower Companion includes maps showing where
2220-567: Is courageous and intelligent, and a skilled seaman, but he is burdened by intense reserve, introspection, and self-doubt, and is described as "unhappy and lonely". Despite numerous personal feats of extraordinary skill and cunning, he belittles his own achievements by numerous rationalisations, remembering only his fears. He consistently ignores or is unaware of the admiration in which he is held by his fellow sailors. He regards himself as cowardly, dishonest, and at times, disloyal, never crediting his ability to persevere, think rapidly, organise, or cut to
2331-548: Is crippled, and with two-thirds of the crew incapacitated (including Lt. Bush), he surrenders to the French, but not before severely crippling three of the French ships and damaging the fourth. As a prisoner in Rosas, he witnesses the destruction of the French ships at anchor by Leighton's squadron. He is sent with his coxswain, Brown, and his injured first lieutenant, Bush, to Paris for a show trial and execution on charges of piracy for using
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#17331255121772442-496: Is given a classical education , and by the time he joins the Royal Navy, at the age of 17, he is well versed in Greek and Latin . He is tutored in French by a penniless French émigré and has an aptitude for mathematics, which serves him well as a navigator. Hornblower's early exploits are many and varied. He joins the Royal Navy as a midshipman , where he is bullied and tries to resolve
2553-428: Is guarded with almost everyone, unless the matter is the business of discharging his duty as a king's officer, when he is clear and decisive. Hornblower possesses a highly developed sense of duty, refusing to put personal benefit in the way of the best interests of his service and his country. This is frequently misinterpreted by those around him as either modesty or false humility, though he often fails to even recognise
2664-426: Is inconceivable that Barbara and Hornblower would have been sitting quietly and contentedly at home during a profound family bereavement, or that Napoleon III would have failed to offer his condolences on the death of Lady Barbara’s own renowned brother. Be that as it may, at the end of his long and heroic career, Hornblower is wealthy, famous, and contented, a beloved, indulgent husband and father, and finally free of
2775-485: Is killed when a shell strikes Bismarck ' s bridge. The remaining bridge officers are killed and the crew abandon their sinking ship. On board King George V, Admiral John Tovey orders the newly joined cruiser HMS Dorsetshire to finish Bismarck off. The cruiser fires torpedoes at the German battleship, causing the vessel to sink faster than her crew can escape. The captain of King George V , Wilfrid Patterson , lowers his head as Bismarck disappears beneath
2886-584: Is marred by the death in action of his friend, Bush. When Napoleon returns from exile at the start of the Hundred Days , Hornblower is staying at the estate of the Comte de Graçay. While there, he renews his affair with Marie de Graçay. When the French Army goes over to Napoleon en masse , Hornblower, the Count, and his family choose to fight rather than flee to Britain. He leads a Royalist guerrilla force, and causes
2997-712: Is pained when circumstances or the Articles of War force him to impose such sentences. He suffers from seasickness at the start of each of his voyages. As a midshipman, he becomes seasick at the sheltered roadstead of Spithead . He is tone-deaf and finds music an incomprehensible irritant; in a scene in Hornblower and the Hotspur , he is unable to recognise the British national anthem . A voracious reader, he can provide discourse on both contemporary and classical literature. His skill at mathematics makes him both an adept navigator and
3108-440: Is portrayed as a stereotypical committed Nazi, crazed in his undaunted belief that Bismarck is unsinkable. In reality, Lütjens did not agree with Nazi policies; along with two other navy commanders, he had publicly protested against the brutality of antisemitic crimes during Kristallnacht . He is portrayed as saying "Never forget that you are Nazis", but the term " Nazi " was a short form pejorative term used by Germans to refer to
3219-490: Is serving with Hornblower for the first time, but other books in the series set earlier in his career completely disregard that. It appears that these discrepancies arose as the series matured and accounts needed to be modified to coincide with his age and career. C. Northcote Parkinson wrote a fictional biography of Hornblower with the encouragement of C. S. Forester's widow, detailing his career and personal information. It corrects or elucidates some questionable points in
3330-494: Is shown firing to port while the Bismarck is shown firing to starboard; in fact it was the other way around. In one scene, Lütjens speculates that after Bismarck has undergone repair in Brest, the two German battleships based there, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst , could join Bismarck in raiding Allied shipping. There is no record of such a discussion at that time, although it would have been possible for Bismarck to sortie with
3441-611: The British Ministry of Information , writing propaganda for the Allied cause . He subsequently settled in Fullerton, California , where he died in 1966 of complications arising from a stroke. Forester was born in Cairo on 27 August 1899, fifth and youngest child of George Foster Smith and his wife Sarah. His father was an English teacher in a local school set up to give upper-class Egyptian boys an English education. His parents separated when he
C. S. Forester - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-463: The County-class cruisers, are generally accurate, although HMS Hood is depicted in a slightly earlier configuration than that which actually blew up. The use of models in a studio tank was intercut with wartime footage and staged sequences using available full-size warships. Bismarck 's anti-aircraft guns, however, are represented by stock footage of British QF 2-pounder naval guns . For
3663-628: The Nuremberg trials . The linked stories in The Man in the Yellow Raft (1969) follow the career of the destroyer USS Boon , while many of the stories in Gold from Crete (1971) follow the destroyer HMS Apache . The last of the stories in Gold from Crete is If Hitler Had Invaded England , which offers an imagined sequence of events starting with Hitler 's attempt to implement Operation Sea Lion and culminating in
3774-513: The Peninsular War , Death to the French (published in the United States as Rifleman Dodd ) and The Gun (filmed as The Pride and the Passion in 1957); and seafaring stories that do not involve Hornblower, such as Brown on Resolution (1929), The Captain from Connecticut (1941), The Ship (1943), and Hunting the Bismarck (1959), which was used as the basis of the screenplay for
3885-549: The Prince of Wales' bridge . Prince of Wales emits a smoke screen behind which to retreat. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen also retreat, but they are shadowed by the cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk using radar. On hearing of the loss of the Hood , Winston Churchill issues the order to "sink the Bismarck ". Later, Prinz Eugen breaks away and heads towards the port of Brest , in occupied France , while Bismarck turns and fires at
3996-769: The Second World War , Forester moved to the United States, where he worked for the British Ministry of Information and wrote propaganda to encourage the U.S. to join the Allies . He eventually settled in Berkeley, California . In 1942, while he was living in Washington, D.C. , he met the young British diplomat Roald Dahl and encouraged him to write about his experiences in the Royal Air Force . According to Dahl's autobiography, Lucky Break , Forester asked him about his experiences as
4107-540: The Witch of Endor , mans the vessel with a commandeered gang of galley prisoners, and escapes to the Channel Fleet . As an indication of Admiralty approval of Hornblower's actions, Lt. Bush is promoted into Witch of Endor as commander, and shortly thereafter to post captain, with "the dockyard job at Sheerness waiting for [him]." When Hornblower arrives home, he discovers that his first wife Maria has died in childbirth, that
4218-583: The prize money to maintain the uneasy alliance with the madman. Hornblower also takes on an important passenger in Panama, Lady Barbara Wellesley, the fictional younger sister of Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington ). He is at first nettled and infuriated by her forthright and outspoken manner, her ability to see easily through his reserve, and the great social gap between them. Over time, however, her beauty, strength, and intelligence win his heart, and
4329-404: The "common themes, actors ... visual style and ideological messages" of the genre. British magazine Radio Times viewed Sink the Bismarck! positively, stating that "this fine film fully captures the tensions, dangers and complexities of battle by concentrating on the unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves" while also praising More's performance. Attention was drawn to
4440-439: The "unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves". Its historical accuracy, in particular, met with much praise despite a number of inconsistencies. Sink the Bismarck! was the inspiration for Johnny Horton 's highly popular 1960 song, " Sink the Bismarck ", credited by Variety with boosting the film's American gross alone by an estimated half a million dollars. The film had its Royal World Premiere in
4551-1030: The Atropos , The Happy Return , and A Ship of the Line were compiled into one omnibus edition, called Captain Hornblower . Flying Colours , The Commodore , Lord Hornblower , and Hornblower in the West Indies were presented as a third omnibus edition called Admiral Hornblower to fill out the series. Commodore Hornblower , Lord Hornblower , and Hornblower in the West Indies were also compiled into one book, called The Indomitable Hornblower . Four "Cadet Editions" were released by Little Brown and later by Michael Joseph, each collecting two Hornblower novels and edited for younger readers: Hornblower Goes to Sea (1953, 1954), from Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower ; Hornblower Takes Command (1953, 1954), from Hornblower and The Atropos and Beat To Quarters ; Hornblower in Captivity (1939, 1955), from A Ship of
C. S. Forester - Misplaced Pages Continue
4662-536: The Bismarck by C. S. Forester . It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert . To date, it is the only film made that deals directly with the operations, chase and sinking of the battleship Bismarck by the Royal Navy during the Second World War . Although war films were common in the 1960s, Sink the Bismarck! was seen as something of an anomaly, with much of its time devoted to
4773-489: The British code-breaking at Bletchley Park was declassified, so it did not reveal that Shepard's hunches about the movements of the Bismarck were supported by intelligence. Direction finding and traffic analysis showed that on 25 May, Bismarck stopped talking to Wilhelmshaven and resumed with Paris , and Shepard committed to the belief that Bismarck was headed for the French coast. The radio switch from Wilhelmshaven to Paris might have been caused by Bismarck crossing
4884-613: The British cruisers to provide cover as she escapes. The attack forces the cruisers to retreat. An air assault from the carrier HMS Victorious damages Bismarck's fuel tanks, but the vessel is otherwise largely undamaged. Back at London's operations headquarters, Captain Shepard gambles that Admiral Gunther Lütjens, the Fleet Commander aboard Bismarck , has ordered a return to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack. He plans to intercept and attack
4995-617: The British suspected that a German U-boat was in the area and withdrew. Perhaps the most significant historical error is that the film places the British naval intelligence operation in the Admiralty , Whitehall , London . The actual centre of intelligence operations during the Battle of the Atlantic and the pursuit of Bismarck was at Derby House , Liverpool . The film has been criticised for its portrayal of German Admiral Günther Lütjens , who
5106-548: The British victory at Trafalgar . Following this exploit, Hornblower is given command of the sixth-rate ship HMS Atropos . His first task is to organise Nelson's funeral procession along the River Thames and he has to deal with the near-sinking of the barge conveying the hero's coffin. Atropos is ordered to join the British Mediterranean fleet. Hornblower is sent on a secret mission to recover gold and silver from
5217-528: The French into attacking the mutinous ship, he rounds up the rebels, personally shooting their ringleader as he tries to escape. When he is approached by a French official willing to negotiate the surrender of a major port, he seizes the opportunity and engineers the return of the Bourbons to France. He is rewarded by being created a peer as Baron Hornblower of Smallbridge in the County of Kent. However, his satisfaction
5328-487: The German battleship's rudder. Unable to repair the rudder, Bismarck steams in circles. During the night two British destroyers attack the crippled battleship with torpedoes. One hits, but Bismarck returns fire, sinking the destroyer HMS Solent . The main force of British ships, including battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V , find Bismarck the next day and rain shells upon her. Lütjens insists that German forces will arrive to save them, but he
5439-447: The German naval Enigma code, which was only broken later and was subject only to traffic analysis during the Bismarck pursuit. Damage during her battle with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales caused flooding that put Bismarck ' s bow barely above sea level. Oil slicks caused by hits from HMS Prince of Wales were apparent. In the film, Bismarck ' s bow remains at its normal height above sea level. Some minor errors involve
5550-454: The German vessel before she reaches safety. Shepard commits a disproportionately large force to the search, and his wager pays off when Bismarck is located steaming toward the French coast. British forces have a narrow time window in which to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own diminishing fuel supplies will preclude further attacks. Swordfish torpedo planes from HMS Ark Royal have two chances. The first fails when
5661-487: The Hornblowers are caught in a hurricane, and Horatio saves Barbara's life from the storm. In a moment of terror and desperation, she reveals that she never loved her first husband, only him. Hornblower retires to Kent and eventually becomes Admiral of the Fleet. His final 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 ,
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#17331255121775772-572: The Line and Flying Colours ; and Hornblower's Triumph (1946, 1955), from Commodore Hornblower and Lord Hornblower . The short stories "The Hand of Destiny", "Hornblower's Charitable Offering", and "Hornblower and His Majesty" plus other Hornblower material not previously published in book-form were collected in Hornblower One More Time (4 July 1976) though only 350 copies were printed. As of June 2017 Amazon offers an electronic ( Kindle ) omnibus, Hornblower Addendum , consisting of
5883-456: The Mediterranean". After saving Admiral Leighton's flagship, HMS Pluto , which had become dismasted in stormy seas, from the French battery at Rosas, he learns that a French squadron of four ships of the line has slipped the blockade at Toulon. He decides that his duty requires that he fight them at one-to-four odds to prevent them from entering a well-protected harbour. In the process, his ship
5994-499: The Pacific, where his mission is to support a megalomaniac , El Supremo, in his rebellion against the Spanish. He captures Natividad , a much more powerful Spanish ship, but reluctantly has to cede 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 captured—adding injury to insult, as he had given up
6105-534: The Royal Navy at the time, documented in official reports and in the Naval Chronicle , provided much of the material for Hornblower's fictional adventures. The name "Horatio" was inspired by the character in William Shakespeare 's Hamlet and chosen also because of its association with contemporary figures such as Nelson. The surname "Hornblower" comes from Arthur Hornblow , a Hollywood producer who
6216-475: The US pop and country charts, was not an original movie tie-in and did not appear in the film, but was instrumental in introducing the film to an American audience. In addition to its airplay and chart success, Horton's song was used in the American promotional trailer . Variety estimated half a million of the gross could be attributed to the success of the song. Sink the Bismarck! was made before 1975, when
6327-458: The US. Both a single-volume edition and a three-volume edition (in a slip case) were published. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower , Lieutenant Hornblower , and Hornblower and the Atropos were compiled in one book, variously titled Hornblower's Early Years , Horatio Hornblower Goes to Sea , or The Young Hornblower . Hornblower and the Atropos was replaced by Hornblower and the Hotspur in later UK editions of The Young Hornblower . Hornblower and
6438-427: 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 also discovers a plot by Lady Barbara to engineer the escape of a Marine bandsman sentenced to death for a minor offence. He overlooks her breach of the law and reassures her of his love. While attempting to return to England,
6549-719: The action took place in the 10 complete novels and Forester's notes on how they were written. Another short story, "The Point and the Edge", is included only as an outline in The Hornblower Companion . The following diagram shows the relationship between the dates of the stories' action and of their publication. The first three novels written, The Happy Return , A Ship of the Line , and Flying Colours were collected as Captain Hornblower R.N (1939) by Michael Joseph and as Captain Horatio Hornblower (1939) by Little Brown in
6660-466: The baby boy survives, and that Lady Barbara (now widowed after Admiral Leighton died of wounds sustained during the attack on Rosas that Hornblower had observed as a prisoner) has taken charge of the child, with her brothers Lords Wellesley and Wellington acting as godfathers. Hornblower faces a mandatory court-martial for the loss of the Sutherland , but is "most honourably acquitted." A national hero in
6771-458: The blockade of Brest aboard Hotspur , he is promised a promotion to post captain by Commander-in-Chief William Cornwallis and is recalled to England. He meets the Secretary of the Admiralty and the rank is conferred when Hornblower agrees to take part in a dangerous mission he himself has suggested—delivering forged letters to Admiral Villeneuve that lead the French fleet to sortie, leading to
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#17331255121776882-490: The books to be read by adults, but they have become popular among adolescents as well. Forester wrote the Hornblower series to avoid entanglements with real-world history. Hornblower is always off on another mission when a great naval victory occurs during the Napoleonic Wars. Hornblower is born in Kent , the son of a physician. He has no inherited wealth or influential connections who can advance his career. In The Happy Return ,
6993-481: The bridges of the ships at sea", claiming that this lessened the "over-all effectiveness" of both scenes. Film4 praised its cinematography, noting that it "very realistically re-enacted scenes in the War Room of the Admiralty" as well as "excellently filmed episodes using miniature models". During the postwar period, war films were one staple of the British film industry, with Sink the Bismarck! an exemplar, sharing
7104-606: The core of the Royal Navy Historic Flight . A 2010 article in Aeroplane identifies the Swordfish flown in the production: LS326 , carrying its true serial, was marked as "5A" of 825 Naval Air Squadron , while NF389 was marked as LS423 / "5B". The same actor plays the leader of the Swordfish attack from HMS Victorious (in reality, Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde VC, DSO), and also the pilot from HMS Ark Royal who later fired
7215-481: The court of the tsar, it is implied that he is unfaithful to Barbara, dallying with a young Russian noblewoman. He provides assistance in the siege of Riga , employing his bomb ketches against the French army, where he meets General Carl von Clausewitz of the Prussian Army . Ill with typhus , he returns to England. Upon his recovery, he is tasked with dealing with mutineers off the coast of France. After tricking
7326-400: The daughter of his landlady, despite his doubts about the match. Maria dotes upon the irritable Hornblower in ways that he finds vexing; she annoys him with both her ignorance and hero-worship of him. However, he warms to her over the course of several books and becomes a good (though not perfect) husband to her and father to their two children, Horatio and Maria. After gruelling service during
7437-437: The difference between a commander's pay and a lieutenant's from his meagre half-pay . He uses his skill at whist to supplement his income, playing for money with admirals and other distinguished men in an officers' club . In 1803, renewed hostilities against France seem imminent, and Hornblower is confirmed in the rank of commander, and appointed captain of the sloop-of-war HMS Hotspur . Before sailing, he marries Maria,
7548-551: The early military defeat of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941. His non-fiction works about seafaring include The Age of Fighting Sail (1956), an account of the sea battles between Great Britain and the United States in the War of 1812 . Forester also published the crime novels Payment Deferred (1926) and Plain Murder (1930), as well as two children's books. Poo-Poo and the Dragons (1942)
7659-509: The engagement. The attacks by Fleet Air Arm Swordfish show some aircraft being shot down; no Swordfish was lost to Bismarck ' s guns and all were recovered. However, from HMS Victorious ' s air raid, two Fairey Fulmar escort fighters ran out of fuel and ditched. Three fliers were picked up from a rubber boat. Sink the Bismarck! also does not show controversial events after Bismarck sank, including HMS Dorsetshire 's quick departure after rescuing only 110 survivors, because
7770-592: The eyes of the public and a useful propaganda tool for various politicians and the Prince Regent , he is made a Knight of the Order of the Bath and appointed a Colonel of Marines (a sinecure which confers a salary without any additional duties). Hornblower and Lady Barbara are now free (after a decent interval) to marry. They move to the fictional village of Smallbridge, Kent, where Hornblower has purchased an estate. However,
7881-568: The film Sink the Bismarck! (1960). Several of his novels have been filmed, including The African Queen (1951), directed by John Huston . Forester is also credited as story writer on several films not based on his published novels, including Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942). Forester also wrote several volumes of short stories set during the Second World War . Those in The Nightmare (1954) were based on events in Nazi Germany , ending at
7992-409: The film. Their pennant numbers can be made out quite clearly, although they are reversed because of the film's convention that British ships should move from left to right on the screen and German ships vice versa . These were the last classes of destroyer built during the war, and the last to have the classic War Emergency Programme destroyers ' outline. HMS Cavalier remained in service until 1972,
8103-575: The first novel published, Hornblower's age is given as 37 in July 1808, implying a birth year of 1770 or 1771. However, when Forester decided to write about Hornblower's early career in the sixth novel Mr Midshipman Hornblower , he made his hero about five years younger, giving his birth date as 4 July 1776, the date of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence . This adjustment allows Hornblower to begin his career in wartime. He
8214-549: The full name "Nationalsozialisten" ("National Socialists") that has become the common name used in English to refer to the ideology and its followers. He was one of the few officers who refused to give the Nazi salute when Hitler visited Bismarck before its first and final mission, deliberately using instead the traditional naval salute. He was pessimistic of the chances of success of Bismarck ' s mission and realised that it would be
8325-419: The heart of a matter. His sense of duty, his hard work, and his drive to succeed make these imagined negative characteristics undetectable by everyone but him. He frets obsessively over petty failures that reinforce his poor self-image. His introverted nature and incredibly high standards isolate him from the people around him, including his closest friend, William Bush, with whom he is frequently foul-tempered. He
8436-534: The hunt for the dreaded Bismarck . The two German warships encounter HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales in the Denmark Strait , and the four warships engage in a deadly gun battle. The battle results in the annihilation and violent disintegration of the Hood , shocking combatants on both sides. Prince of Wales is alone and is fired on by the two German ships. She manages to inflict damage on Bismarck's bow , but Bismarck returns fire, destroying
8547-503: The individual, with Sink the Bismarck! characterised as having an "emotional punch, not least because Gilbert's direction relentlessly focuses on the human dimension amidst the history". Sink the Bismarck! was well received by the public and, according to Kine Weekly , it was the second most popular film released in Great Britain in 1960 (after Doctor in Love ). The film replicated
8658-464: The insecurities and self-loathing that had driven him throughout his life. Forester provides 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 midway through The Commodore , when Czar Alexander asks him to describe his career. The two accounts are incompatible. The first account would have made Hornblower about five years older than
8769-513: The last RN destroyer to have served in the Second World War, and is now preserved at Chatham Dockyard to commemorate all these vessels, but the newer and larger HMS Hogue was broken up shortly after the film was completed, following a collision off Ceylon with the Indian cruiser INS Mysore (formerly HMS Nigeria ). The large models of the major warships Bismarck , HMS Hood , HMS Prince of Wales , HMS King George V , HMS Rodney and
8880-698: The last major Second World War fleet units were being retired. Producer John Brabourne was able to use his influence as son-in-law of Lord Mountbatten , then Chief of the Defence Staff , to obtain the full co-operation of the Admiralty . The soon-to-be-scrapped battleship HMS Vanguard provided some footage of a capital ship's 15-inch gun turrets in action, and was used for scenes set on board HMS Hood , Prince of Wales , King George V , and Bismarck herself. The cruiser HMS Belfast , now preserved in London,
8991-417: The line . His feelings are disturbed during this period by the fact that his commander, Admiral Leighton, has recently married Lady Barbara. The admiral treats Hornblower with disdain. 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, earning the nickname "the terror of
9102-413: The line between southern Greenland and the northern Hebrides, which placed her under Group West instead of Group North. Nonetheless, Shepard's hunch was proved correct when, by good luck, a Luftwaffe Enigma transmission was intercepted and decoded at Bletchley Park, revealing that Bismarck was headed for Brest to repair an oil leak. The Luftwaffe's Enigma code had been broken early in the war, unlike
9213-538: The matter by forcing a duel with his tormentor. He is then transferred to HMS Indefatigable under Edward Pellew and distinguishes himself. He fends off fire ships , which interrupt his (failed) first examination for promotion to lieutenant . He is given command of the sloop Le Rêve while still only an acting lieutenant; the vessel blunders into a Spanish fleet in the fog, resulting in Hornblower's capture and imprisonment in Ferrol . During his captivity, he acquires
9324-449: The most part, the historical accuracy in Sink the Bismarck! was praised by critics, with Variety calling it a "first-rate film re-creation of a thrilling historical event". A contemporary The New York Times review by A. H. Weiler, likewise championed its realism in saying "a viewer could not ask for greater authenticity". However, it went on to criticise both the acting and the constant scene changes "from Admiralty plotting rooms to
9435-564: The nephew of Hornblower's great nemesis and the future president and later emperor of France. For his assistance, Lord Hornblower is created a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour . It is to be noted that this final story, while an interesting addition to the saga, is empirically incompatible with historical fact, since the Duke of Wellington, Lady Barbara’s brother and Hornblower’s own brother-in-law, died some days before Napoleon III’s hasty return to France. It
9546-520: The new lord of the manor longs for the sea. A return to duty comes when he is appointed to be commodore and sent with a squadron of small craft on a mission to the Baltic Sea , where he must be a diplomat as much as an officer. He foils an assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander I of Russia and is influential in the monarch's decision to resist the French invasion of the Russian Empire . While at
9657-464: The novels, and includes a confession that Hornblower kicked Captain Sawyer down the hatchway of the Renown . It adds subsequent careers of Lord Hornblower's relatives, ending with the present Viscount Hornblower's emigration to South Africa in the late 1960s. According to Parkinson, Hornblower in later life became a director of P&O , governor of Malta (1829–1831), commander in chief at Chatham (1832–1835),
9768-402: The pilots misidentify HMS Sheffield as Bismarck , but thankfully their new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty, with most exploding as soon as they hit the sea. Returning to the carrier and changing to conventional contact exploders, their second attack, this time on the Bismarck , is successful. One torpedo causes only minor damage; but a catastrophic second hit near the stern jams
9879-428: The possibility existed until it is pointed out to him in retrospect. On occasion, however, he is able to set his duty aside, usually in order to show loyalty to someone he respects. For example, in Hornblower and the Hotspur , he contrives an escape for his personal steward who would otherwise have been hanged for striking a superior officer. Hornblower is philosophically opposed to flogging and capital punishment , and
9990-671: The presence of the Duke of Edinburgh at the Odeon Leicester Square on 11 February 1960. In February 1939, Nazi Germany 's most powerful battleship , Bismarck , is launched , beginning a new era of German sea power. In May 1941, British naval intelligence discovers Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen are about to sail into the North Atlantic to attack Allied convoys. From an underground war room in London, Captain Jonathan Shepard ( Kenneth More ) coordinates
10101-452: The rank of midshipman. The last completed novel was published in 1962. Hornblower's fictional adventures were based on real events, but Forester wrote the body of the works carefully to avoid entanglements with real world history, so that Hornblower is always off on another mission when a great naval battle occurs during the Napoleonic Wars. Forester's other novels include The African Queen (1935) and The General (1936); two novels about
10212-552: The repairs of the battle damage, but just as this work is finished, the ship is given to the King of the Two Sicilies to keep him as an ally. Returning to England, Hornblower finds his two young children dying of smallpox . Later in the timeline, but written of in the first novel in order of publication, he makes a long, difficult voyage in command of the frigate HMS Lydia round the Horn to
10323-464: The returned Emperor's forces much grief before his band is finally cornered; in a desperate shootout, Marie is slain, and Hornblower is captured. After a brusque hearing before a military tribunal, the Count and he are both sentenced to death, but he is granted a stay of execution and ultimately released due to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo . After several years ashore, he is promoted to rear admiral and appointed naval Commander-in-Chief of
10434-426: 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; in one account of his defeat of a Spanish frigate in the Mediterranean, he distinguished himself as lieutenant and in another he is a post-captain with less than three years' seniority. In The Happy Return , Bush
10545-556: The source material for numerous adaptations (not all of which are listed below), Forester was also credited as "adapted for the screen by" for Captain Horatio Hornblower . Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars , the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester . He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated
10656-573: The stories: "Hornblower and the Hand of Destiny", "Hornblower and the Widow McCool", "Hornblower's Charitable Offering", "Hornblower and His Majesty", and "The Last Encounter", although two of these are also included in the book Hornblower During the Crisis . Sink the Bismarck! Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book The Last Nine Days of
10767-404: The storyline. In a similar manner, the battle between British and German forces is also recreated as a human drama, with Admiral Lütjens pitted against Captain Shepard in a "psychological chess match". Lewis Gilbert suggested Kenneth More for the lead, with whom he had worked several times before. Dana Wynter was under contract to 20th Century-Fox. Sink the Bismarck! was made in 1960, as
10878-517: The success of other British war-themed productions in the decade that also received healthy box office, including The Cruel Sea (1953), The Dam Busters (1955) and Reach for the Sky (1956). Unlike most British war films Sink the Bismarck! was a surprise hit in North America . Gilbert was surprised by the film's popularity in the USA as Reach for the Sky had flopped in that country, and that had
10989-660: The torpedo which crippled Bismarck ' s steering gear (in reality Lt John Moffat RNR ). The destroyers used to depict the torpedo night attacks were the C-class HMS ; Cavalier , representing the flagship of "Captain (D), of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla" (in reality, Captain Vian in HMS ; Cossack ) and the Battle-class destroyer HMS Hogue , representing the fictitious HMS Solent which Bismarck destroys in
11100-446: The two battleships if Bismarck had reached the port. Another historical deviation was made in depicting the night engagement between British destroyers and Bismarck . The film portrayal shows three British hits by torpedoes, while the British destroyer HMS Solent is hit and destroyed by Bismarck . There was no destroyer named Solent and no successful torpedo attack, although S-class submarine HMS Solent did exist during
11211-456: The two become dangerously attracted to each other. Before things get out of hand, Hornblower informs Lady Barbara that he is married. She leaves the Lydia two days later when they rendezvous with other British ships. Hornblower fears for his career, having offended "the daughter of an earl , the sister of a marquis ". After these exploits, he is given command of HMS Sutherland , a 74-gun ship of
11322-574: The visual appearance of Bismarck . When a spy in Kristiansand , Norway , sees Bismarck arrive in Norwegian waters (sailing from the east), the ship is shown sailing from right to left (from the west). Bismarck has no apparent camouflage but in fact, the ship still had striped " Baltic camouflage " along her sides, which was removed shortly before she headed out to sea. Also, the photo-reconnaissance Spitfire that photographs Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in
11433-524: The war as a submarine operating in the Eastern Fleet in 1944. On 26 May, a Royal Navy destroyer squadron, led by Captain (later Admiral ) Philip Vian in HMS Cossack , did exchange gunfire during unsuccessful torpedo attacks, with Bismarck inflicting minor damage to the destroyers. The heroic action of the attached Polish destroyer Piorun (ex N-class HMS Nerissa ) was not depicted, although she sailed straight for Bismarck , signalling "I am
11544-414: The waves. Admiral Tovey orders Dorsetshire to pick up survivors, finally saying tersely: "Well, gentlemen, let's go home." and C. S. Forester reportedly wrote the story as a screen treatment for 20th Century-Fox before even writing the book. Writer Edmund H. North worked closely with Forester's story, compressing events and time lines to make the plot taut. Along with the director, he decided to use
11655-404: The ways in which it deviated from other war films of the period, specifically commenting on how "there is a respect for the enemy that is missing in many previous flag-wavers". The film was given a four-star rating . Gilbert's continual forays into events that shaped the British war experience mirrored his own background as a wartime filmmaker. His films merged historical episodes and the role of
11766-413: The wrong ship before correcting her fire. Only in her final moments did HMS Hood begin a turn to fire a broadside on Bismarck . HMS Hood was hit during this turn and she exploded. The turn presented Hood ' s deck armour at an angle more vulnerable to shell penetration and has been cited as a possible cause for the explosion and her subsequent destruction, an issue the film does not cover. HMS Hood
11877-604: Was a colleague and friend of Forester's. Frederick Marryat has been identified as "the father of the seafaring adventure novel from which all others followed, from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower to Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin". Hornblower and the eponymous protagonist of Marryat's novel Peter Simple both start their careers rather unpromisingly and without influential friends, but advance through hard work, honesty, and bravery. Both fight duels before their careers have properly started and both are taken prisoner early in their careers. Hornblower
11988-464: Was created as a series of stories told to his son George to encourage him to finish his meals. George had mild food allergies and needed encouragement to eat. The Barbary Pirates (1953) is a children's history of early 19th-century pirates. Forester appeared as a contestant on the television quiz programme You Bet Your Life , hosted by Groucho Marx , in an episode broadcast on 1 November 1956. A previously unknown novel of Forester's, The Pursued ,
12099-576: Was discovered in 2003 and published by Penguin Classics on 3 November 2011. Forester married Kathleen Belcher in 1926. They had two sons, John, born in 1929, and George, born in 1933. The couple divorced in 1945. In 1947 he married Dorothy Foster. Kathleen Belcher's great‑uncle was Capt. Edward Belcher , RN, who achieved renown as a hydrographer and explorer. After his retirement, Belcher devoted much of his time to writing. After penning biographical material, he turned his hand to naval fiction, inventing
12210-413: Was used to depict the cruisers involved in Bismarck ' s pursuit, including HMS Norfolk , Suffolk , Sheffield and Dorsetshire . A Dido -class cruiser in reserve was used as the set for Bismarck ' s destruction, and one of her tall raked funnels is glimpsed in the final scenes. The aircraft carrier HMS Victorious is briefly shown as herself, despite the postwar addition of
12321-455: Was young, and his mother took him to London, where he was educated at Alleyn's School and Dulwich College . He began to study medicine at Guy's Hospital , but left without completing his degree. He was of good height and somewhat athletic, but wore glasses and had a slender physique. He failed his Army physical and was told that there was no chance that he would be accepted. He began writing seriously, using his pen name, in around 1921. During
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