# A Ship of the Line > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/A_Ship_of_the_Line > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/A_Ship_of_the_Line.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ship_of_the_Line > Source revision: 1354741963 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Second "Hornblower" novel by C.S. Forester A Ship of the Line First edition (UK) Author C. S. Forester Language English Series Horatio Hornblower Genre Historical novel Publisher Michael Joseph (UK) Little, Brown (US) Publication date 4 April 1938[1] Publication place United Kingdom Media type Print Pages 304 OCLC 611456337 LC Class PZ3.F75956 Shi2 PR6011.O56 Preceded by The Happy Return Followed by Flying Colours ***A Ship of the Line*** is a historical seafaring novel by [C. S. Forester](/source/C._S._Forester). It follows his fictional hero [Horatio Hornblower](/source/Horatio_Hornblower) during his tour as captain of a [ship of the line](/source/Ship_of_the_line). By internal chronology, *A Ship of the Line*, which follows *[The Happy Return](/source/The_Happy_Return)*, is the seventh book in the series (counting the unfinished *[Hornblower and the Crisis](/source/Hornblower_and_the_Crisis)*). However, the book, published in 1938, was the second Hornblower novel completed by Forester. It is one of three *Hornblower* novels adapted into the 1951 British-American film *[Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.](/source/Captain_Horatio_Hornblower_R.N.)*. ## Plot summary Hornblower has recently returned to England from the Pacific in the frigate HMS *Lydia*, having gained widespread fame (but no financial stability) as a result of sinking the superior ship *Natividad* in battle. As a reward for his exploits, he is given command of a [seventy-four](/source/Seventy-four_(ship)) ship of the line, HMS *Sutherland*, once the Dutch ship *Eendracht*,[a] and which is, in Hornblower's estimation, "the ugliest and least desirable [two-decker](/source/Third-rate) in the Navy List". He is assigned to serve under [Rear Admiral](/source/Rear_Admiral) Leighton, Lady Barbara Wellesley's new husband. Throughout, Hornblower is torn between his love for Lady Barbara and his sense of duty and loyalty to his frumpy wife, Maria. His feelings for Maria are complicated by the previous loss of both of his children to [smallpox](/source/Smallpox). Hornblower's first orders are to escort a convoy of [East Indiamen](/source/East_Indiamen) off the Spanish coast. He successfully fights off simultaneous attack on the convoy by two fast, manoeuvrable [privateer](/source/Privateer) [luggers](/source/Lugger). Since he has been forced to sail with an understrength crew, and had to make do with "lubbers, sheepstealers, and bigamists", he breaks Admiralty regulations and [presses](/source/Impressment) twenty sailors from each Indiaman just before they part company. With his ship now at full complement, Hornblower wreaks havoc on the French-occupied Spanish coast. He captures a French [brig](/source/Brig), the *Amelie*, by surprise, storms a French fort and takes several more vessels in its harbour as prizes, repeatedly fires upon several thousand Italian soldiers marching along a coastal road, and saves his Admiral's ship from certain ruin by towing it away from a French battery during a severe storm. When Hornblower encounters a squadron of four French ships of the line that have broken through the English blockade of [Toulon](/source/Toulon), he attacks them despite the odds of four to one, and manages to disable or heavily damage all of them. However, with many of his crew killed or wounded, including Bush, who loses a leg, and his ship dismasted, he is then forced to strike his colours and surrender. This novel ends as a [cliffhanger](/source/Cliffhanger). ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Although the ship is fictional, *Eendracht*, meaning "Concord" or "Unity" was a common name for Dutch ships, taken from the motto of the Dutch Republic: *Concordia res parvae crescunt* ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)*, 3 April 1938, "This Week's Diary", London, p. 6 ## External links - [*A Ship of the Line*](https://fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20171008) at [Faded Page](/source/Distributed_Proofreaders_Canada) (Canada) v t e Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester Novels Mr. Midshipman Hornblower Lieutenant Hornblower Hornblower and the Hotspur Hornblower and the Crisis Hornblower and the Atropos The Happy Return A Ship of the Line Flying Colours The Commodore Lord Hornblower Hornblower in the West Indies Short stories The Hand of Destiny Hornblower and the Widow McCool The Last Encounter Hornblower's Charitable Offering Hornblower and His Majesty v t e Works by C. S. Forester Hornblower series The Happy Return (1937) A Ship of the Line (1938) Flying Colours (1938) The Commodore (1945) Lord Hornblower (1946) Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) Lieutenant Hornblower (1952) Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) Hornblower and the Crisis (1967) The Last Encounter (1967) Hornblower and the Widow McCool (1967) Other novels A Pawn Among Kings (1924) Payment Deferred (1926) Love Lies Dreaming (1927) The Wonderful Week (1927) The Shadow of the Hawk (1928) Brown on Resolution (1929) Plain Murder (1930) Death to the French (1932) The Gun (1933) The Peacemaker (1934) The African Queen (1935) The General (1936) To the Indies (1940) The Earthly Paradise (1940) The Captain from Connecticut (1941) The Ship (1943) The Bedchamber Mystery (1944) The Sky and the Forest (1948) Randall and the River of Time (1950) The Good Shepherd (1955) The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck (1959) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [A Ship of the Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ship_of_the_Line) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ship_of_the_Line?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.