Not looking for something ALL about the battles and conflicts, mostly just how a Royal Navy, French Republic/Empire, Spanish, etc. (but mostly Royal Navy) ship operated day in and day out. Like, what positions were there and what were the components of the ship. I want to know every detail. I know the basics (played a few games, read Hornblower, watched Master and Commander, etc.), but the age of sail (the Napoleonic era in particular) has always been so important to me, I just want to jump in and soak it all in. I'm asking for suggestions on books because I doubt this information can be summarized, but if it can, by the grace of god, I'll be extremely happy.
Hi, I have some book recommendations on my profile page here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/profiles/jschooltiger
From that list I'd say these would be useful:
N.A.M. Rodger, The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy: An accessible introduction to the navy of the mid-18th century, while still providing substantial detail. Establishes Rodger's interest in organizations and organizational history as a way to drive the conversation about navies and their successes or failures.
Patrick O'Brian, Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy: A slim volume but replete with illustrations, this was intended as a companion to O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Useful to understand details of daily life, ship construction, rigging, etc.
As well as the recommendations by u/jschooltiger, you might appreciate The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor: Or a key to the leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship by Darcy Lever.
This book was used as a textbook by young officers in the Royal Navy in the 19th century, and is still in print today.
Available from Amazon, or here is a link to it on Google Books:
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Young_Sea_Officer_s_Sheet_Anchor_Or.html?id=HmJJAAAAYAAJ