Young Horatio Hornblower was very unlucky. A midshipman with no experience found himself in a society of salty sea wolves, to whom the devil himself is no brother. At seventeen, the young officer was too serious, but timid by nature and did not easily get along with people. A monstrous despotism reigned on the ship, immediately reminding Hornblower of the classic images of degenerate Roman emperors. More and more often the young man began to think about death, and even more often about escape. He had no idea what an extraordinary fate the ocean was preparing for him...