Hornblower is a second lieutenant on a frigate with a mad captain when Lieutenant Bush comes on board as first lieutenant. The captain suffers a head injury in a fall down a ladder, Bush becomes acting captain, but spurred on by Hornblower has to storm a pirate fort in the Caribbean. The pirates manage to take over the frigate, but Horblower, commanding a captured vessel, saves the day. There is a court-martial because of the loss of the ship and the state of its captain, with Hornblower promoted to commander and sent home to England in a prize ship
This was the first of the Hornblower books that I read, so I located it in the summer between 7th and 8th grade. I finished the whole series over that summer, and I recall arguing with my 8th grade teacher if the Hornblower saga could be considered an epic. ( )

Hornblower är femte löjtnant på HMS linjeskeppet Renown. Det finns inte många chanser att få befordran då. Men snart dyker det rätta ögonblicket upp att glänsa inför överordnade. Kommendörkapten Sawyer skadar sig allvarligt och blir förklarad oförmögen att föra befäl. Den förste löjtnanten (som blir tillförordnad befälhavare) är vek och måste hela tiden rådfråga sina underordnade vad som bör göras.

Renowns uppdrag är att ta över ett fort i Västindien som kan störa Englands handel. Buckland (förste löjtnant) är osäker om han bör genomföra uppdraget eller segla till Kingston, Jamaica och lämna över fartyget till en kommendörkapten. Hornblower uppmuntrar honom att genomföra uppdraget och det leder till att Hornblower får leda en landsättningsstyrka som med stor framgång erövrar fortet. När Hornblower kommer hem till England utses han till kapten trots sin låga grad.

Also good story. Second in series. ( )

Segunda entrega de la serie dedicada a Horatio Hornblower. Aquí se inicia la auténtica carrera militar de Hornblower, empieza a tener responsabilidades de mando y dirige sus primeras operaciones militares. Además participa, de un modo que no queda muy claro, en la destitución de un capitán irresponsable. Posteriormente vemos a Hornblower en tierra y los problemas de los oficiales de marina cuando no están navegando. Juega a las cartas para poder subsistir, con los riesgos que esto comporta, hasta que finalmente se aclara su actuación y se le asigna un nuevo barco.

This is the second book in the series and opens with Lieutenant Bush climbing aboard to join HMS Renown as the ship's third lieutenant. The officer on watch as he does so is Hornblower, the ship's most junior (fifth) lieutenant.

All the action that follows is told from Bush's point of view. It starts in Plymouth Sound where an atmosphere of fear and suspicion exists between the captain and his officers, an apparent accident befalling the captain, a mission to the West Indies that ends in triumph before finishing off in the peacetime port of Portsmouth.

In this second book Hornblower has progressed in rank with much of his character already formed by the time the novel opens, but here get to see how his natural talents which as a leader of men and a strategist begin to develop and be recognised. Whilst Forester provides a pretty convincing portrayal of what is takes to sail a wooden warship in the heat of battle it still takes quite a leap in faith to believe that more senior officers would not only follow the suggestions made by a junior officer so closely but also give him credit for its subsequent sucess.

It has been quite a few years since I last read any of these books and this is a re-read however, I've always been a bit of a sucker for a maritime yarn. I found it a pacy piece of escapism but just not up to the standards of Alexander Kent's Bolitho series. ( )