naval napolionic wars HORNBLOWER Britsh Royal Navy

Portsmouth, 1794. Under thundery skies and in lashing rain, 17-year-old midshipman Horatio Hornblower takes the first tentative steps of his naval career, but a feud with a shipmate causes complications.

Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes 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.

Set during the 18th century Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, a young and shy midshipman, rises through the ranks to become an admiral.

Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.

Lieutenant Hornblower and his shipmates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.

In 1803, the only thing standing between Napoleon and his plan of world domination is England and the British Navy. The admiralty, learning that Napoleon has assembled an invasion fleet decides to send out one of its vessels to destroy it the French flagship under cover of fog. Forced out of retirement, ruthless, tyrannical and temperamental Captain William Blake is put in command. He wields his command with sadistic fury until an epidemic of scurvy attacks the crew and, when he refuses to go ashore for needed provision, mutiny and insubordination results...and, then, the French flagship arrives.

Presented by HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York, this is an in-depth look back at centuries of British naval history. During the 17th century, the Royal Navy's codification of naval tactics in 'The Fighting Instructions' transformed naval battles into linear chess games on water. Superior French ship design and military training helped to free America, but a revolution in naval tactics saw Admiral Nelson triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar.

This historical drama takes us back to one of the great battles in naval history. It took place in 1805 during the great Napoleonic Wars and pitted the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of Spain and France. In one of the most decisive engagements ever, the Royal Navy lost only one ship while sinking 22 French and Spanish warships. It put an end to Napoleon's plan to invade England.

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY begins with King Henry VIII’s first fleet, moves on to the exploits of Sir Francis Drake, the showdown with Spain’s “invincible” Armada in 1588, Nelson’s success at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Dreadnought in 1906, the sinking of the Bismark in WWII, and the Falklands War in 1982.