Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World around Cape Horn is taken from the novel "Desolation Island", although the "Acheron" replaced the Dutch 74-gun warship "Waakzaamheid", the "Surprise" replaced the "Leopard", and in the book it is Aubrey who is being pursued around the Cape of Good Hope. The episode in which Aubrey deceives the enemy by means of a raft bearing lanterns is taken from "Master and Commander", and the episode in which Maturin directs the surgery on himself, while gritting his teeth in pain, to remove a bullet is taken from "HMS Surprise". Other incidents in the film come from other books in O'Brian's series.
Jack Aubrey Jack Aubrey John "Jack" Aubrey, is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his rise from lieutenant to rear-admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty (and one incomplete draft)-book series encompasses Aubrey's adventures and various commands along his course to flying a rear admiral's flag. Some of his naval battles and adventures are drawn from Royal Navy history. Several of his exploits and reverses, most importantly those in the plots of "Master and Commander", "The Reverse of the Medal" and "Blue at the Mizzen", are directly based on