The Examination For Lieutenant

"The Examination For Lieutenant" is an episode of the British television series Hornblower. It is loosely based on part of "Mr Midshipman Hornblower" by C. S. Forester. It was released on DVD in the United States under the title "The Fire Ships".

Plot

Pellew, Captain of HMS Indefatigable decides to put his protégé, Horatio Hornblower, up for the examination for lieutenant. Leading up to the exam, Hornblower comes up against many challenges to prepare himself for the difficult life as a lieutenant.

Spain has made peace with France and is now not an ally of Britain - Spanish ships fire at will at British ships. One ship has already been wrecked in the water at the starboard bow of HMS Indefatigable. When it comes past, there are only three survivors; among them is Captain Dreadnought Foster, a supposedly very heroic officer who brings a lot of influence to Hornblower and his ambitions.

Spain in this act had deprived the Gibraltar fleet of its supplies leaving the captains no alternative but to cut the rations by half. This leads one man called Bunting (Andrew Tiernan) to commit theft as his friend died of scurvy and he feared going the same way. He was captured by Hornblower, reprimanded by Pellew and punished by the gauntlet.

Soon a Mr Tapling from the diplomatic service arrives and he and Hornblower go ashore to a very shabby foreign town which, in exchange for gold, gives grain and cattle for the fleet. Soon it is discovered that this is a plague town and so Hornblower is appointed Captain of the Caroline (a transport brig) and spends his three weeks of quarantine preserving them. Bunting had tried to escape in the longboat and get to shore but had been caught again by Hornblower, and now was his prisoner. Hornblower, short of hands on the Caroline, but mostly wanting to redeem Bunting gives him a chance to prove his worth. Later, while they are ashore in a fresh stream to collect some water, they are attacked by a few Spanish soldiers, and Bunting tries to escape again. Hornblower catches him, but Bunting makes Hornblower shoot him.

They return to the Caroline to discover Captain Foster taking cattle from that ship to his own, violating the last week of the quarantine. They argue and their friendship appears to break.

They return to HMS Indefatigable and Hornblower runs his exam. He appears to be failing until a fire ship sails into Gibraltar, and Hornblower and Foster go aboard and steer it clear of the fleet.Pellew remarks on Hornblower's courage and he is allowed to keep his rank until the next exam.And HMS Indefatigable sails off into the distance.

Related works

The events of this episode are drawn, with some alterations, from two chapters of "Mr Midshipman Hornblower". The section involving the cattle and the quarantine is from the chapter "Noah's Ark", and that of the exam and the fire ship is from the chapter "The Examination for Lieutenant". (The book also has a chapter in which Spain goes over to the French and Hornblower earns the rank of acting-lieutenant, but it is not used in this episode.) The subplot involving Bunting does not appear anywhere in the book. [Forester, C.S, "Mr Midshipman Hornblower" (Chivers Press, 1994)]

References