Editing Master and Commander (section)

===Specific events===
The capture in the novel of the Spanish ''Cacafuego'' by the vastly inferior ''Sophie'' is based on the [[action of 6 May 1801|real-life capture on 6 May 1801]] of the Spanish frigate ''[[Spanish frigate El Gamo|El Gamo]]'' by the British [[Sloop-of-war|brig-sloop]] [[HMS Speedy (1782)|HMS ''Speedy'']].<ref name = Cordingly>{{cite book |title=Cochrane: The Real Master and Commander |first=David |last=Cordingly |pages=3–4 |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2007 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58234-534-5}}</ref>{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=85}} One of the most spectacular single-ship victories in British Naval history,{{sfn|Harvey|2000|p=51}} the ''[[El Gamo]]'' incident captured the public imagination and founded the reputation of the ''Speedy's'' commander, [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]].{{sfn|Harvey|2000|p=49}} Like Aubrey in the book, however, Cochrane did not receive from the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] the promotion and prize money he might have expected from so spectacular a victory.{{sfn|Harvey|2000|p=51}}

The capture of ''Sophie'' by [[Jean-Anne Christy de la Pallière|Christy-Pallière]] of the ''[[French ship Tyrannicide (1793)|Desaix]]'' parallels the experience of Cochrane aboard the ''Speedy'', down to the detail of the real Christy-Pallière refusing to accept the vanquished captain's sword: "I will not accept the sword of an officer who has for so many hours struggled against impossibility".{{sfn|Harvey|2000|p=59}}

The exploit of deceiving a ship at night by attaching lights to a decoy was executed by Cochrane and was described in his ''Autobiography of a Seaman''.<ref name="Dundonald107">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_pVAAAAYAAJ |title=The Autobiography of a Seaman |last=Cochrane |first=Thomas |publisher=Richard Bentley |year=1860 |volume=I |location=London |page=107}}</ref> A similar exploit was reported to have been used by the French [[privateer]] [[Joseph Potier|Joseph-Marie Potier]] to escape a British frigate near [[Quiberon Bay]] in January 1809.<ref>{{cite book|title=Saint-Malo illustré par ses marins |trans-title=Saint Malo illustrated by its sailors |first=Charles |last=Cunat |author-link=Charles Cunat |publisher=Imprimerie de F. Péalat |year=1857 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1koAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA487 |language=fr |page=418}}</ref>

For the [[Algeciras Campaign]] O'Brian studied the dispatches of admiral [[James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez|Sir James Saumarez]] along with other contemporary reports of the battle.{{sfn|King|2000|p=207}}