HMS Justinian

HMS "Justinian" is a fictional ship from C. S. Forester’s novel "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower". In the novel, "Justinian" is Horatio Hornblower’s first ship. He enters service as a Midshipman in the 74-gun ship of the line at the age of seventeen.

The "Justinian" is described as a Third-rate launched on the Thames in 1786 to the design of Sir Thomas Slade. She was an old ship by the time Hornblower came on board and not a happy one. Captain Keene was a sick man and several of her lieutenants were far too old for active service. The midshipman’s mess, Hornblower’s new home, was ruled by a bully named Simpson. Simpson, at age thirty-three, had failed his examination for lieutenant too many times to ever expect promotion and he took out his bitterness and disappointment on his juniors. After he fought a duel with Simpson, Hornblower was transferred to another ship by Captain Keene for his own good. The "Justinian" was badly damaged by grounding in 1797 and ended as a sheer hulk in Plymouth.

References

* C. S. Forester, "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower", Pinnacle Books, New York 1975.
* C. Northcote Parkinson, "The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower", Little, Brown & Company, Boston 1970.

ee also

*List of fictional ships