HMS Sutherland
From Hornblower
HMS Sutherland was a Dutch-built 74 gun ship of the line. As a reward for his exploits onboard the HMS Lydia, Captain Horatio Hornblower was given command of HMS Sutherland, which was, in Hornblower's estimation, the ugliest ship of the line in the Royal Navy.
Hornblower's first orders were to escort an East Indian convoy off the Spanish coast. He successfully defended them from simultaneous attack by two faster, more maneuverable privateers.
Since Hornblower had been forced to sail with an understrength crew, and had to make do with "lubbers, sheepstealers, and bigamists", he broke admiralty regulations and impressed twenty men from each vessel in the convoy just before they part ways. With his ship fully manned, Hornblower wreaked havoc on the French-controlled Spanish coast. He captured a French brig by surprise, stormed a French fort, took two more vessels as prizes, repeatedly fired upon several thousand French soldiers marching along a coastal road, and saved his Admiral's ship from certain ruin by towing it away from a French battery during a severe storm.
When the Sutherland encountered a squadron of four French ships of the line that have broken through the English blockade of Toulouse, Hornblower attacked them against overwhelming odds, and managed to disable or heavily damage all of them. However, with many of his men killed or wounded and his ship dismasted, he was forced to strike his colors and surrender.
[edit] Appearances
- A Ship of the Line (First appearance)
