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.
The Far Side of the World US Navy ship off Norfolk, Virginia. Aubrey realizes that Captain Palmer wants to protect members of his crew who are mutineers from the Hermione mutiny of 1797, and thus subject to full punishment if they are taken by the Royal Navy. He tries to get Aubrey to believe that the war between the United States and Britain, the War of 1812, is over, which it is not. That lie was in hopes of helping those men reach the Marquesas where they might be safe from Royal Navy justice. In the Author's Note, O'Brian says that the USS "Norfolk" recalls the