[:)] I was pleasantly surprised to find a little (95pp) lavishly illustrated paperback by Patrick O’Brian, author of the “HMS Surprise” series of novels (Master and Commander, etc.), titled “Men-of-War: Life in Nelson’s Navy.”
It isn’t as detailed in terms of rigging diagrams, construction plans, etc. as some of the more popularly used reference texts listed in this forum from time-to-time, but it provides the overall “flavor” of its subject and a basic undertanding of its chapters: the ships, the guns, the ship’s company, and life at sea, plus it throws in a few songs. Interestingly, it provides the pay rates, promotion rates, prize-sharing calculations, ship ranking, gunnery procedure, discipline, meal allotment , and officer’s/crew’s provisioning charts. A handy little book!
Published by WW. Norton & Company, Inc.,NY,NY, 1995. ISBN 0-393-326600-8.
[4:-)] “Should we prosper it shall be as is our custom…by Miracle!”