The Flag Captain — Alexander Kent

In the spring of 1797 Captain Richard Bolitho brought his ship, the 100-gun Euryalus, home to Falmouth. But soon the flagship was pressed into battle, part of a hastily formed squadron chosen to force the first British reentry into the Mediterranean, a mission demanding both skill and enterprise.

In addition, Bolitho had to cope with a new admiral, and a mysterious and powerful civilian whose advice to the fleet would have sinister implications for the future of Britain.