Horatio's howlers

Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower, you are charged with three counts. First, that you did appear improperly dressed before a court martial. Second, that you did fire a cannon at the retreating enemy without first taking aim. Third, that you did allow sailors on your watch to use the naked flames of candles to light their way below decks in contravention of naval orders.

"How do you plead, sir!"

Guilty as charged, according to Kieran Hosty, a curator at Sydney's Australian National Maritime Musuem. At the Herald's invitation, he watched the final episode of the BBC's Hornblower series, which has proved one of the successes of this winter's ABC Sunday schedule. His secret mission? To unmask any historical inaccuracies in the swashbuckling tale set on the high seas during the Napoleonic wars. Here are his findings:

Accusation one: the wrong uniforms. In the final two episodes, Hornblower faced the death penalty, accused of leading a mutiny against his deranged captain. "In the court scenes, Hornblower appears to be wearing his 'undress' uniform, or frock coat, which was basically the informal uniform which officers used for working aboard ship," Hosty says. "Given the strife Hornblower was in, he should have been wearing his lieutenant's dress uniform, a white-fronted uniform with white lapels instead of the blue uniform he was wearing."

The only defence is that some fellow officers were also wearing the wrong uniforms. The ship's surgeon, whose use of laudanum had pushed the captain over the edge of sanity, "was actually a petty officer". As such, "he should have worn a fold-down collar, basically the one we use today, but is shown wearing a stand-up collar".

Two of Hornblower's fellow officers, Bush and Archie, were also shown wearing blue rather than white trousers. "All our illustrations of the period show naval officers wearing white trousers," Hosty says.

The marines who arrest the captain, however, are properly dressed in their red outfits - as long as the mutiny took place before 1806. After that date marines wore blue flashes on their collars.

Hosty is willing to be generous on the subject of hats. "Nelson popularised the bicorn hat which came in around 1801." Yet a number of officers wear the earlier tricorn hat. "Perhaps there was a bit of changeover period," he says.

Accusation two: the spacious gun decks. Much of the action took place below deck, yet the characters had plenty of head room.

Wrong, says Hosty. "Deck height on a vessel of war was about 5 foot 6 inches, or 165cms. Yet the men were able to walk around normally." It's a myth that 18th-century sailors were considerably shorter than modern ones, he says. "They definitely had to stoop." He points out that, alone of the services, British naval officers can salute the monarch sitting down. That dates back to "one of the Georges" who hit his own head while standing to accept the salute during the Napoleonic wars, and absolved naval officers from having to stand to salute.

Hosty was also alarmed by the ease with which the sailors loyal to the mad captain were able to move about unobserved on the gun deck. "The gun decks were the main recreational area, where sailors slept and lived. There were no signs of hammocks. Half the crew would have been below deck. It should have been crowded."

Accusation three: the fire risks.

Lanterns and candles may enhance dramatic effect, Hosty says, but they weren't common below deck. "Fires were a major concern aboard naval vessels, there was so much gunpowder around. There wouldn't have been so many naked flames."

Accusation four: the dangerous gunpowder kegs.

"They're wrong. In the film, their kegs are hooped with iron. The hoops should be made from copper, to prevent sparks."

Accusation five: the lack of aim.

After storming the Spanish fort, Hornblower volunteers to fire the cannon at the departing enemy. "It was interesting to see him fire without taking aim."

Accusation six: the familiarity between officers and men.

Unrealistic, Hosty says, "though I realise it is part of the Hornblower mystique that he was loved by his men". Hosty points out that Hornblower's creator, C.S. Forrester, based him on a real person, the eccentric British admiral Thomas Cochrane (1775-1860). Like Nelson, Cochrane inspired loyalty, but Hosty says there were still barriers between ranks.

Such nautical trivia apart, what did Hosty think of the series?

"Fantastic. They've gone to a lot of trouble to get most things right. It's authentic and really true to the Hornblower books."