HMS Atropos
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Launched: | 1781 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 481 |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 155 |
| Armament: |
eighteen 12 lb carronades and four 9 lb guns |
HMS Atropos is a fictional 22-gun sloop of war from C. S. Forester’s novel Hornblower and the Atropos, named after a Greek mythological figure. In the novel, Atropos is Horatio Hornblower’s first command as a Post-Captain.
The Atropos is described as a Sixth Rate built at Chatham in 1781, a ship just large enough to support the dignity of a Post-Captain. Her commission under Hornblower began in November, 1805. Atropos had a varied career under Hornblower’s command, including retrieving sunken treasure off the coast of Turkey, rescuing kidnapped citizens of Malta from the Barbary Pirates of Tunis, and fighting a ship twice her size, the Spanish frigate Castilla (44).
References
- C. S. Forester, "Hornblower and the Atropos", Pinnacle Books, Los Angeles 1984.
- C. Northcote Parkinson, "The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower", Little, Brown & Company, Boston 1970.
