Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower was the title character of a popular series of novels and stories about the adventures of a 19th century officer in the Royal Navy , written by C . S . Forester in the mid - 20th century . Jake Sisko carried a PADD copy of the novel " Commodore Hornblower " in 2372 and read the same part of it several times throughout that year . In the novel , Hornblower moves to the village of Smallbridge and is honorably welcomed by the villagers . With him travels his wife Barbara Wellesley , whose brother was Arthur Wellesley . ( ) Background information . ' s Horatio Hornblower was largely inspired by the real - life British national hero , Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson , as well as . The fictional character ' s exploits bear a striking similarity to major aspects of " Star Trek " and similar - themed science fiction stories in literature , film and television . Gene Roddenberry ' s original pitch for " Star Trek " described the ship ' s proposed hero ( Robert April ) as a " " space - age Captain Horatio Hornblower " " . Both tales shared major themes centering on the captain of a ship far from home , depending on his vessel , a loyal crew , and his own considerable wits to resolve military and diplomatic crises threatening his country ' s interests . While clearly bearing Roddenberry ' s stamp , the spirit of Hornblower and the age of sailing ships was evident throughout the franchise , and most prominent in original series episodes like , , and , as well as the films and . The portrayal of James T . Kirk as a decisive , often inspired , man - of - action was much like Hornblower , and both characters felt distinct unease when not on the bridge of their ships . Both Christopher Pike and Jean - Luc Picard more closely resembled the literary hero ' s introverted , intellectual nature . In the early episodes of , Kathryn Janeway shared Hornblower ' s internal struggle over keeping a professional distance from her crew . Spock and William T . Riker share qualities with Hornblower ' s faithful first officer , Lieutenant Bush – all three men initially more comfortable at their Captain ' s right hand than as commanders in their own right . In either tale , the Captain would be challenged to use his sailing ship or starship in an inventive new manner as often as ordering it into battle . In his audio commentary for the of " Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan " , director Nicholas Meyer spoke of his inability to relate to " Star Trek " until he " " suddenly began to think of it as the adventures of Horatio Hornblower in outer space . Once I got that , I said , okay , this about the Navy . . . this is about gunboat - diplomacy " " . He revisited that interpretation in . In the script for , the antique ship ' s wheel seen in the ' s observation lounge is compared to one Hornblower might have steered . Worf ' s holodeck promotion scene in was envisioned as as a way for " Star Trek " to homage C . S . Forester ' s given the longstanding ties to his books . The ( NCC - 72015 ) bears the name of Hornblower ' s command in the novel . Apocrypha . The novel " " by Vonda N . McIntyre referred to James T . Kirk ' s first command as the USS " Lydia Sutherland " . The name was an amalgam of two of Hornblower ' s commands , the HMS " Lydia " ( from the novel ) and HMS " Sutherland " ( from " Ship of the Line " ) .