Hornblower and the other officers of the Renown must return to Jamaica to face a court-martial and possible execution for their actions in relieving their unstable captain.

Lt. Hornblower and his mates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.

Lt. Hornblower and his crew are captured by the enemy while escorting a Duchess who has secrets of her own.

While Lt. Hornblower studies for his promotion examination, he is distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew.

Admiral Pellew interrupts Hornblower’s wedding reception and tasks him to locate a British ship which has disappeared off the French coast, where Napoleon’s troops are engaged in covert activities.

Hornblower and his comrades come under the command of a revered but obviously mentally unstable captain and eventually must mutiny.