@Lugwho The Strike series on TV does a pretty good job; not much point in reading them when you know the outcomes.
Master and Commander is set in the British navy in the time of the Napoleonic wars. The writing and characters are spectacular, though you'll have to learn about yards & sailing by vs large & broadside weight of metal. But it's worth learning because the whole series is so wonderful.
The author spent years reading thru the Naval Gazette - articles written by captains for other captains to read. For Master and Commander he took pretty much the real events of one real ship, but compressed and altered the timeline and invented and added characters. So the descriptions of chases and battles are very realistic and clear.
Try book 1 and see if you like it; my wife (a big mystery reader) likes them so much she's re-read them multiple times. She says book 4 is her favorite.
