The run
- Network
- Mutual
- Years active
- 1952–1953
- Surviving broadcasts
- 53
- Genre
- adventure
The Horatio Hornblower series is based upon the novels by C. S. Forester. They were admired by many fans, including Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemmingway who is quoted as saying, "I recommend Forester to everyone literate I know." The adventures follow the rising career from a young, unpromising, and seasick midshipman who eventually becomes Admiral of The Fleet of the Britain's Royal Navy. The storyline occurs during the Napoleonic era. Although many great naval leaders inspired Hornblower, Forester was careful to place the plots far enough away from actual battles so as not to interfere with…
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
11 dated broadcasts across 2 years on the air. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1952, in original transmission order.
- 1. Horatio Deals with a Mad King · 7 Jul 1952
- 2. Lydia Sinks the Natividad · 4 Aug 1952
- 3. Disguised as a French Ship · 8 Sep 1952
Horatio Deals with a Mad King
7 Jul 1952 · 31 min
Broadcast 7 July 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Lydia Sinks the Natividad
4 Aug 1952 · 21 min
Broadcast 4 August 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Disguised as a French Ship
8 Sep 1952 · 21 min
Broadcast 8 September 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Mutiny on the Flame
24 Oct 1952 · 22 min
Broadcast 24 October 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Barbara Joins Horatio
28 Nov 1952 · 21 min
Broadcast 28 November 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Horatio Captures a Ship
2 Jan 1953 · 21 min
Broadcast 2 January 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Chasing the Blanche Fleur
30 Jan 1953 · 27 min
Broadcast 30 January 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Delaying the French
6 Mar 1953 · 20 min
Broadcast 6 March 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Also on Mutual
Mutual in 1952–1953
Other series the network carried while Horatio Hornblower was on the air.
Same seasons
adventure on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The children's serial
Fifteen minutes, a cliffhanger, and a promise to be back tomorrow. Kids' audio still runs on the shape the Yukon and Speed Gibson serials cut.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Horatio Hornblower
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
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