I'm playing "The Chronicles of Horatio Hornblower". Actually I've been replaying quite a bit of it because the game corrupted itself to the point where it crashed straight after loading a saved game, even one from some time back which had previously loaded successfully - I've still got my old backup copy of the Beta 3 entire game directory so I put that back in place, re-installed Beta 3.2 WIP, forgot that this nukes your saved games directory, and had to restart the campaign. 
Civilians who turn into officers seem to have been disabled. No matter how many people I talk to, I never get the answer "Not often do I encounter such a respectable person" which leads to the person offering to become an officer. And most potential officers in taverns are certainly disabled, they offer their services to the Crown and you automatically decline. Female officers in the tavern, on the other hand, are more accomodating - that's where I got the answer "Wait a minute, I must straighten my collar" (she skipped the bit about a respectable person and went straight for her collar). Which means I can board an enemy ship, put her in charge, and not have to use one of Hornblower's companions who might mess up a quest due to being on my prize ship when he ought to be ready to say something at the next port. So capturing and selling ships is one source of money.
There's a point in the story where, following a raid on Martinique, you go to Speightstown to care for the wounded, then have to hike across the island to Bridgetown to receive a new command. By the time I leave Speightstown the Navy is minus one ship, the shipyard is plus one ship and Hornblower is plus a lot of gold.
The Navy tries to claw the money back later when you get decommissioned and you're left with just 100 gold, thus making you suitably poor and interested in Mrs. Mason's offer. Except I've just been to the loanshark and dumped my entire savings there, which means coming out of the Naval HQ with 100 gold is actually a profit.
I don't collect my savings until after that part of the story is done in case the Navy tries to rob me again. Incidentally, there's a bit where you're at the port gate and Maria notices that you've pawned your sword - except that none of my swords seem to be missing, certainly not the one I had equipped before the alleged pawnage.
Civilians who turn into officers seem to have been disabled. No matter how many people I talk to, I never get the answer "Not often do I encounter such a respectable person" which leads to the person offering to become an officer. And most potential officers in taverns are certainly disabled, they offer their services to the Crown and you automatically decline. Female officers in the tavern, on the other hand, are more accomodating - that's where I got the answer "Wait a minute, I must straighten my collar" (she skipped the bit about a respectable person and went straight for her collar). Which means I can board an enemy ship, put her in charge, and not have to use one of Hornblower's companions who might mess up a quest due to being on my prize ship when he ought to be ready to say something at the next port. So capturing and selling ships is one source of money.
There's a point in the story where, following a raid on Martinique, you go to Speightstown to care for the wounded, then have to hike across the island to Bridgetown to receive a new command. By the time I leave Speightstown the Navy is minus one ship, the shipyard is plus one ship and Hornblower is plus a lot of gold.
The Navy tries to claw the money back later when you get decommissioned and you're left with just 100 gold, thus making you suitably poor and interested in Mrs. Mason's offer. Except I've just been to the loanshark and dumped my entire savings there, which means coming out of the Naval HQ with 100 gold is actually a profit.
I don't collect my savings until after that part of the story is done in case the Navy tries to rob me again. Incidentally, there's a bit where you're at the port gate and Maria notices that you've pawned your sword - except that none of my swords seem to be missing, certainly not the one I had equipped before the alleged pawnage.
I know ships can be made unsellable, generally ships which join your fleet as companions but aren't under command of you or any of your own officers, such as Danielle's ships in "Tales of a Sea Hawk". You can't sell or buy their cargo either. Is it possible to make your ship unsellable but still leave it able to buy cargo? Hornblower shouldn't be able to sell a Royal Navy ship but should be able to buy food, rum, ammo, planks and sailcloth.
