The Far Side of the World ship and swam for shore; only half of them landing. Eventually, the hopeless situation forced the frigate to surrender. The "Essex" suffered 58 killed, 97 wounded, while the British casualties were 5 dead, 10 wounded. The novel provided part of the title and some of the plot-structure for the 2003 Peter Weir film, "". The fictional USS "Norfolk" morphed into the fictional American-built French privateer "Acheron", and episodes also migrated from other books in the series, including "Master and Commander" and "HMS Surprise". The design and size of the fictional "Acheron" reflect those of the USS "Constitution". In reviewing the
The Far Side of the World the "Surprise" finds the "Norfolk" wrecked on a reef by the same typhoon and her survivors encamped on an island. Aubrey, Mr Martin and some of the crew take Maturin ashore for surgery; he is in a coma since hitting his head during the typhoon. Just as the surgeon from the "Norfolk", Dr Butcher, prepares to operate, Maturin wakes from his coma. A heavy storm blows the "Surprise" away. Relations between the two marooned groups are tense, because some of the Norfolks were mutineers in 1797 aboard HMS "Hermione"; they will be hanged by the British. One admits this to