Lieutenant Hornblower

Infobox Book
name = Lieutenant Hornblower
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = C. S. Forester
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = Horatio Hornblower
genre = Historical novel
publisher = Michael Joseph, London
release_date = 1952
english_release_date =
media_type = Hardcover & paperback
pages = 253 pp
isbn = ISBN 0140119418 (UK paperback edition)
preceded_by = Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
(1950)
followed_by = Hornblower and the Hotspur
(1962)

"Lieutenant Hornblower" (published 1952) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester, ISBN 1-85998-976-4.It is the second book in the series chronologically, but the seventh by order of publication.

The book is unique in the series in being told not from Horatio Hornblower's point of view, but rather from Bush's.

William Bush, Hornblower's faithful companion and best friend, is introduced boarding HMS "Renown" as the Third Lieutenant. Hornblower is the Fifth and junior Lieutenant. It is quickly apparent that Captain James Sawyer suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, constantly suspecting plots to undermine his authority and awarding irrational and arbitrary punishments to Hornblower and other officers. Four of the Lieutenants meet in secret in the lower decks to discuss what can be done but are interrupted when a Midshipman warns them that the Captain is on his way to arrest "mutineers". The officers scatter and attempt to appear as if nothing had happened, and in the confusion, they learn that the Captain has somehow fallen head-first into the hold.

When the Captain regains consciousness, it is clear that he has entirely lost his reason as a result of the fall, and is incapable of resuming command. The First Lieutenant, Buckland, takes charge; but having appeared to be steady enough at the start of the book, he is overwhelmed by the responsibility. Ordered to capture an anchorage from which Spanish privateers are operating, he makes a clumsy frontal attack which is repulsed. However, Hornblower's brilliance saves the day, when he suggests and leads a surprise attack at night.

The Spanish base is destroyed, a Spanish privateer and some small craft are captured and Buckland's promotion seems assured. Unfortunately for him, the prisoners take control of the "Renown" during the night, taking Buckland prisoner asleep in his cot. Hornblower alertly retakes the ship, but in the desperate fighting, Bush is severely wounded and the helpless Sawyer is killed.

Upon their return to port, there is an awkward Court of Enquiry. Hornblower repeatedly denies any knowledge of how Captain Sawyer came to fall into the hold. After enquiries end indecisively, Buckland is passed over; instead, Hornblower is promoted to Commander.

Unfortunately, the Peace of Amiens is signed before Hornblower's promotion can be confirmed. Because he has to pay back the difference in pay between a commander and a lieutenant, Hornblower is reduced to earning his living by playing whist for money. He resides in a lodging house, where he meets his future first wife Maria (née Mason), the daughter of the landlady. Bush meets him several times, and notes in a newspaper that the midshipman who (apart from Hornblower) might be the only witness to Captain Sawyer's fall into the hold, has drowned in an accident.

The Peace of Amiens comes to an end. War has not yet begun, but is imminent, as evinced by a press gang Hornblower and Bush encounter. Hornblower's promotion is confirmed (by a Lord of the Admiralty he impresses with his exceptional cardplaying skills) and he is appointed commander of a sloop of war.