The various naval history novelists used various real events to base their stories on as well as imagined events. For instance Jack Aubrey is Cochrane in the Med (Master and Commander) but Pym at Mauritius (The Mauritius Command) then back to being Cochrane again (The Reverse of the Medal). I think that it would be wrong to suggest that any of these novelists based their characters entirely on one person.

I hope they're not too accurately based on Cochrane - a brilliant and brave fighting seaman and a fine radical politician, but a bit of a nutter all the same. No respecter of authority in any form and an early proponent of poison gas! But to serve as an admiral for four different countries sets a unique record.

As to which novels are the best, that obviously depends on the reader's taste. I myself prefer Patrick O'Brien's books, although I am eternally grateful to Forester who started this interest for me. Since then I have eagerly devoured everything I could on the subject; fiction, film, TV, biography, autobiography and non-fiction alike.

Reading some of the factual accounts of actions in, say, Willaim Laird Clowes' 'The Royal Navy - a history from the earliest times to 1900', shows that the actions of Hornblower, Aubrey, Bolitho et al were not necessarily so far out of the ordinary.

Schantieman - the ship that does the film work and appeared as Hotspur is 'Grand Turk' a replica post ship. If you look at their web site you might be able to find out when she next visits a port near you.