Form Line of Battle! — Alexander Kent

This panoramic novel sweeps you into a dramatic period of naval history, as Britain fights the rising power of Revolutionary France. The year is 1793 and the setting is the Mediterranean. Captain Richard Bolitho of the Royal Navy is given command of an antiquated gun ship, the Hyperion. But when the ill-fated battle begins, Bolitho finds he must first war against personal crises--in the form of outdated superiors and a tired old ship--before he can lead the Hyperion into the line of battle... .