Master and Commander

Master and Commander is an historical naval novel by Patrick O'Brian. First published in 1970, it is first in the Aubrey-Maturin series of stories of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin.

Plot summary

The story starts out on April 18, 1800, in Port Mahon, Minorca, a base of the Royal Navy at that time. A shipless lieutenant wasting away in port, Jack Aubrey, meets Stephen Maturin, a poor half-Irish and half-Catalan doctor and natural philosopher, at an evening concert at the Governor’s Mansion. The two of them do not quite get along during this first encounter. A duel almost occurs when Jack Aubrey gets elbowed by Maturin to stop humming while the string quartet is playing.

Later that evening, on his way back to his living quarters, Jack Aubrey finds out that he was promoted to the rank of Commander and has been given a command. His joy overcomes his animosity towards Stephen Maturin and they quickly become good friends. The ship's surgeon having left with the previous captain, Maturin is asked by Aubrey to sign on in that post. Although Maturin is a physician, not just a mere surgeon, he agrees, since he is currently unemployed.

Also introduced into the story are Master's Mates Thomas Pullings, William Mowett, midshipman William Babbington, and James Dillon, Sophie's first lieutenant. Dillon has a secret background as a member of the United Irishmen which crosses with Stephen's own. Aubrey improves Sophie's sailing qualities by adding a larger yard which allows him to spread a larger mainsail. She then is sent to accompany a small convoy of merchant ships. During their journey east, the new captain, Aubrey, takes the opportunity to get to know his sailors and work them into a fighting unit. As he does this, he and the crew explain many naval matters to Maturin (and to the reader) since the doctor has never served aboard a man-of-war.

After the convoy duties, Lord Keith allows Aubrey to cruise independently, looking for French merchants. After a number of prizes are taken, they meet and defeat the Cacafuego, a Spanish frigate, losing a number of crew, including Dillon, in the bloody action and gaining the respect of other naval officers. However, Captain Harte, the commandant at Mahon, has a grudge against Aubrey because he has been having an affair with his wife. His malevolence ensures the victory brings Aubrey and his crew no official recognition, promotion, or significant prize money. On her following escort duty, Sophie is captured by a squadron of four large French warships after a pursuit and a brave but hopeless resistance. The Battle of Algeciras begins, and after a short period as prisoners of war, they are exchanged, missing the fighting. Back at Gibraltar, Aubrey must undergo a court-martial over the loss of his ship, but he is cleared of the charges.

Characters in "Master and Commander"

Jack Aubrey – Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and appointed Commander at the start. Captain of HMS Sophie.

Stephen Maturin – ship's surgeon, friend to Jack and intelligence officer.

Harte – Captain and station Commandant

Molly Harte – Wife to the station Commandant

Lord Keith (Thos Walker) – Admiral in the Mediterranean

Samuel Allen – erstwhile Captain in Sophie, succeeded by Aubrey

Mr. Baldick – Lieutenant in Sophie, ill and replaced

Mr. Williams – administrator in Mahon for Aubrey's prize-agent

David Richards – Mr. Williams relative who ships as Midshipman in Sophie

William Marshall – master in Sophie

Tom Pullings – master's mate in Sophie

William Mowett – master's mate in Sophie

Isaac Wilson – ordinary seaman in Sophie

Watt – bosun in Sophie

Lamb – carpenter

Ricketts – purser

George Day – the gunner

Charles Stephen Ricketts – son to the purser, rated midshipman

William Babbington – midshipman in Sophie

James Dillon – first lieutenant in Sophie

Alfred King – Black crew member, also a mute

Quinn – sergeant of marines

Ships in "Master and Commander"

The British:

HMS Audacious - Ship of the line and flagship

HMS Niobe - frigate

HMS Pallas - frigate

HMS Sophie - Tri-sailed brig (sloop)

Burford -

HMS Généreux - 74 gun Third rate. Captured from France in 1800.

Tartarus - bomb-ketch

The Spanish:

Cacafuego - xebec-type frigate (though named after a ship from the 16th century)

Major themes

Many incidents and events in the book are directly copied from the real cruises of Lord Cochrane in his sloop HMS Speedy. Cochrane described them in detail in his Autobiography of a Seaman.

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

Maturin and Dillon, both Catholics, are revealed in the book to have been members of the Society of United Irishmen, and these activities now compromise them politically in what is the aftermath of the unsuccessful Irish Rebellion of 1798. Maturin has been a close friend of Lord Edward FitzGerald, the Irish peer who was one of the leaders of the movement. Both Maturin and Dillon keep their Catholic beliefs and their old political allegiance quiet for fear of exposure, and the continuing official hunt for conspirators in 1801, the year of the novel's setting, is illustrated when Sophie is ordered by Harte to intercept an American ship carrying two fugitive United Irishmen and capture them by force if necessary.

The capture of the Spanish xebec-frigate Cacafuego by the greatly inferior Sophie brings Aubrey and his crew great glory (although no great wealth). This episode is based on the capture of the Spanish frigate El Gamo by Thomas Cochrane commanding the sloop HMS Speedy. The exploit of setting up a decoy of a large ship at night by attaching lights to a small boat was executed by Cochrane and described in his Autobiography of a Seaman, which was used by O'Brian as source material for this novel. It was also used by the French privateer Robert Surcouf to successfully escape the British frigate HMS Sybille.

The book ends with Aubrey and Maturin witnessing the Battle of Algeciras, firstly from the deck of the French Desaix, then from the Rock of Gibraltar.