The Even Chance
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The Even Chance
''The Even Chance'' is the first of eight Hornblower television adaptations relating the exploits of Horatio Hornblower, the protagonist in a series of novels and short stories by C.S. Forester. ''The Even Chance'' is the name given to this first film in the United Kingdom, while in the United States it is known as ''The Duel''. Plot In January 1793, 17-year-old Horatio Hornblower, a newly-appointed midshipman, joins a ship of the line, HMS ''Justinian''. Hornblower is introduced to his shipmates, including Jack Simpson, a bully who rules the midshipmen's quarters. Hornblower embarrasses himself when he becomes seasick while the ship is at anchor in calm waters. Hornblower considers suicide because of Simpson's persecution, then finds an opportunity to challenge him to a duel, even though Simpson is an experienced duellist. Midshipman Clayton feels guilty that he has not previously stood against Simpson. He knocks Hornblower unconscious, takes his place in the duel and is ki ...
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Adventure Film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, animation, comedy, drama, fantasy, science fiction, family, horror, or war. Overview Setting plays an important role in an adventure film, sometimes itself acting as a character in the narrative. They are typically set in far away lands, such as lost continents or other exotic locations. They may also be set in a period background and may include adapted stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes within the historical context. Such struggles and situations that confront the main characters include things like battles, piracy, rebellion, and the creation of empires and kingdoms. A common theme of adventure films is of characters leaving their home or place of comfort and going to fulfill a goal, embarking on travels, quests, tre ...
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The Examination For Lieutenant
''The Examination for Lieutenant'' is an episode of the British television series '' Hornblower''. It is loosely based on part of the 1950 novel ''Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'' by C. S. Forester. It was released on DVD in the United States under the title ''The Fire Ship''. Plot Sir Edward Pellew, captain of decides to put his protégé, Horatio Hornblower, forward to be examined for promotion to lieutenant. Pellew cautions Hornblower to study diligently, because failure will mean an end to his acting lieutenant's grade and return to the midshipmen's ranks. Hornblower attempts to study, but constant challenges interrupt his reading and note taking. Spain has made peace with France and is no longer an ally of Britain – Spanish ships, though technically neutral, begin to attack British ships. Wreckage from one supply ship is found by ''Indefatigable''. ''Indefatigable'' recovers three survivors, among them Captain "Dreadnought" Foster, a famously heroic officer. Spain's actions h ...
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Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. In the 17th century, a midshipman was a rating for an experienced seaman, and the word derives from the area aboard a ship, amidships, either where he worked on the ship, or where he was berthed. Beginning in the 18th century, a commissioned officer candidate was rated as a midshipman, and the seaman rating began to slowly die out. By the Napoleonic era (1793–1815), a midshipman was an apprentice officer who had previously served at least three years as a volunteer, officer's servant or able seaman, and was roughly equivalent to a present-day petty officer in rank and responsibilities. After serving at least three years as a midshipman or master's mate, he was eligible to take the e ...
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Deloping
''Delope'' ( French for "throwing away") is the practice of deliberately wasting one's first shot in a pistol duel, an attempt to abort the conflict. The Irish ''code duello'' forbids the practice. Notable uses * Alexander Hamilton, a 19th-century American politician, is thought to have attempted to ''delope'' during his infamous duel on July 11, 1804, with Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States. Rather than firing into the ground (as was customary in a delope), Hamilton intentionally fired into the air over Burr's head. Burr, perhaps misunderstanding his opponent's intent, fired at Hamilton and mortally wounded him. Burr and Hamilton's mutual animosity towards each other was such that it is not out of the question that Burr understood what Hamilton was doing but intentionally shot to kill or at least draw blood. Other historians have proposed that Burr shot first and the wounded Hamilton reflexively pulled the trigger, which would not be an instance of ''deloping''. ...
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Ruse De Guerre
The French , sometimes literally translated as ruse of war, is a non-uniform term; generally what is understood by "ruse of war" can be separated into two groups. The first classifies the phrase purely as an act of military deception against one's opponent; the second emphasizes acts against one's opponent by creative, clever, unorthodox means, sometimes involving force multipliers or superior knowledge. The term stratagem, from Ancient Greek (, 'act of generalship'), is also used in this sense. are described from ancient to modern times, both in semi-mythical accounts such as the story of the Trojan Horse in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', and in well-documented events such as the flying of the American flag by the British ocean liner RMS ''Lusitania'' in 1915 (whilst the United States was a neutral country) to deter attack by German submarines; they also feature in fiction. The term is given legal meaning within the rules of war. Good faith is required, but at least 17 different type ...
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Naval Boarding
Naval boarding action is an offensive tactic used in naval warfare to come up against (or alongside) an enemy marine vessel and attack by inserting combatants aboard that vessel. The goal of boarding is to invade and overrun the enemy personnel on board in order to capture, sabotage or destroy the enemy vessel. While boarding attacks were originally carried out by ordinary sailors who are proficient in hand-to-hand combat, larger warships often deploy specially trained and equipped regular troops such as marines and special forces as boarders. Boarding and close quarters combat had been a primary means to conclude a naval battle since antiquity, until the early modern period when heavy naval guns gained tactical primacy at sea. A cutting out boarding is an attack by small boats, preferably at night and against an unsuspecting, and anchored, target. It became popular in the later 18th century, and was extensively used during the Napoleonic Wars. This heralded the emphasis o ...
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Gironde Estuary
The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just downstream of the centre of Bordeaux. Covering around , it is the largest estuary in western Europe. Named after the French ''département'' Gironde, the Gironde estuary is approximately long and 3–12 km (2–7 miles) wide. It is subject to very strong tidal currents and great care is needed when navigating the estuary by any size or type of boat. Since 2015, the Gironde estuary has been part of the Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park. Islands of the Gironde Within the estuary between the Pointe de Grave at the seaward end and the Bec d'Ambès are a series of small islands. The Île de Patiras is 200  ha in size with a lighthouse to aid navigation in the estuary. Vines and maize are gro ...
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Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother Israel Pellew also pursued a naval career. Childhood Pellew was born at Dover, the second son of Samuel Pellew (1712–1764), commander of a Dover packet, and his wife, Constantia Langford. The Pellew family was Cornish, descended from a family that came originally from Normandy, but had for many centuries been settled in the west of Cornwall. Edward's grandfather, Humphrey Pellew (1650–1721), a merchant and ship owner, son of a naval officer, resided at Flushing manor-house in the parish of Mylor. Part of the town of Flushing was built by Samuel Trefusis, MP for Penryn; the other part was built by Humphrey Pellew, who was buried there. He also had a property and a tobacco plantation in Maryland. Part of the town of Annapolis stands on ...
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HMS Indefatigable (1784)
HMS ''Indefatigable'' was one of the 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816. Construction ''Indefatigable'' was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams. She was launched in early July 1784 and completed from 11 July to 13 September of that year at Portsmouth Dockyard as a 64-gun two-decked third rate for the Royal Navy. ...
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Seasickness
Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include dehydration, electrolyte problems, or a lower esophageal tear. The cause of motion sickness is either real or perceived motion. This may include from car travel, air travel, sea travel, space travel, or reality simulation. Risk factors include pregnancy, migraines, and Ménière's disease. The diagnosis is based on symptoms. Treatment may include behavioral measures or medications. Behavioral measures include keeping the head still and focusing on the horizon. Three types of medications are useful: antimuscarinics such as scopolamine, H1 antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate, and amphetamines such as dexamphetamine. Side effects, however, may limit the use of medications. A number of medications used for nausea such as ondansetron are ...
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Ship Of The Line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the opponent with more cannons firingand therefore more firepowertypically had an advantage. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying more of the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time. From the end of the 1840s, the introduction of steam power brought less dependence on the wind in battle and led to the construction of screw-driven wooden-hulled ships of the line; a number of purely sail-powered ships were converted to this propulsion mech ...
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United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ...
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