One of the ships used for the film was "The Grand Turk" which is a working replica of a 1790s man-o-war that makes yearly trips throughout Europe and winters in the city of Whitby, England. It was specially built for 'Hornblower', and painted black and buff on one side, and black and red on the other, so that it could double as a British or French ship, depending on the angle it was filmed from.
According to the Hornblower novels by C.S. Forester, Hornblower was tone deaf and would have heard music as noise. He also suffered from seasickness until he got his sea legs.
Inside the Grand Turk is a shrine to the Hornblower series with lots of references to the TV show. Also on display on the lower deck are the nameplates for the "Indefatigable", the ship it portrayed in the first four programs.
The TV movie is based off the first five chapters of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester: "The Even Chance", "The Cargo of Rice", "The Penalty of Failure", "The Man Who Felt Queer" and "The Man Who Saw God".
On 22 Oct 1800, HMS Indefatigable, in company with others, captured the French corvette Venus off the Portuguese coast. Venus had 32 guns and a crew of 200. Refitted and named HMS Scout, she would wreck on the Isle of Wight on 25 Mar 1801. There was no loss of life.