Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

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.

Plot hole: Following Pellew's meeting with Lord Hood, he tells Hornblower that they had to get back to Plymouth as quickly as possible. The next scene depicts them at fleet landing in the Pool of London, with a number of battleships at anchor. Line-of-battle ships simply were unable come that far up the Thames. Should it have been intended to depict that they had, following a two-day trip via carriage to Plymouth, gone aboard the Indefatigable there, it is illogical for the French troops to march all the way to Plymouth. A quick glance at a map of Britain supports this contention.

More mistakes in Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

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