>>... except for having read all the C.S. Forester Hornblower books and also much of Patrick O’Brien’s (Aubrey/Maturin)...
BTW / FWIW both of those series are based on the real life exploits of Lord Thomas Cochran. There are a couple of good biographies. Worth a read, particularly if you've read the frictionalized versions. He did some things that didn't get put into fiction because they'd be too unbelievable.