Exactly, he's been very sheltered I think, but you can see him just beginning to overcome the horror that Naval life presents, by the end of it. Sort of. And he was learning his signals thanks to the warm reminders from Mr Bush. <3

And yeah, I expect Bush might take the hard line and would think that was the way it goes, you lose men, even the pretty young ones who might have had a better future. But Hornblower -- I wouldn't be surprised if Hammond reminded him, and that maybe other people in future will remind him of Hammond. He feels these losses. There should be fic dealing with this stuff though. Bush built up a relationship with both Wellard and Hammond; I'd love to see inside his head regarding what he felt about their deaths.

This fandom has a million million niches for fic. <3