Factual error: As Pellew and Hornblower return to the Indefatigable, they go aboard a ship's launch. In the Royal Navy, when boarding a small boat, the senior officer always boards last, so he can disembark first. Captain Pellew boards before Lieutenant Hornblower.
Factual error: When the royalist troops land in France, Hornblower's division has the job of transporting 2 12-pound-er naval cannon. These each weigh in excess of 18cwt, and yet 3 men unload them from the ship's boat. In actuality, the gun barrels were transported suspended in the water between two boats, then dragged up onto the beach.
