the line captured from the French, and is assigned to a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Leighton. Leighton has just returned from his honeymoon with Lady Barbara. Outside the Admiralty, Lady Barbara tells Hornblower that she did not learn of his wife’s death until she returned from Ireland. Leighton's squadron is to help enforce the British blockade of France. Hornblower learns that four French ships of the line have broken through the blockade. Leighton assumes they will make for the Mediterranean, but Hornblower suggests that they mean to support Napoleon's campaign on the Iberian Peninsula. Leighton decides to cover both possibilities by detaching one ship to patrol the French coast. When he learns that Hornblower's Sutherland is best suited for this task, having the shallowest draught, he accuses Hornblower of pursuing glory and prize money and expressly forbids Hornblower's taking any independent action if he sights the French. Hornblower's French-built ship is subsequently mistaken for a friendly vessel by a small French brig, which flies the enemy's recognition signal for the day. After capturing the vessel, Hornblower learns from its captain that he was transporting supplies to the four warships for use in Spain. Rather than return to the squadron, Hornblower enters the enemy harbour where the French ships are anchored and guarded by a well-armed fort. By flying a French flag and the recognition signal and taking advantage of his ship's French design, Hornblower fools the garrison into believing that the Sutherland is friendly. His gun crews dismast all four enemy ships before cannon fire from the fort forces the British to abandon ship. Hornblower scuttles his ship in the channel, bottling up the French ships. As the rest of the British squadron arrives to complete the job, Hornblower, First Lieutenant Bush, and seaman Quist are taken by carriage to Paris to be tried for piracy. They escape en route and make their way to the port of Nantes. Disguised as Dutch officers, they board the Witch of Endor, a captured British ship. They overpower the skeleton crew, free a working party of British prisoners of war to man her, and sail to England. Hornblower is hailed as a national hero and learns that Leighton was killed in the battle against the French ships. Hornblower returns home to visit his young son and finds Lady Barbara there. The two embrace. Cast Gregory Peck as Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N. Virginia