I have read that in the mid to late 19th century that oak from America was in high demand as it's flexibility often deflected shot, but have also heard about the carnage on-board a ship of war during this period. Surely a standard first rate ship of the line equivilent would lose much of its fighting capability after taking the first broadside? Is this true and what generally ended up happening during a long engagement?
I have written a bunch of answers about this sort of thing, but let's start with the myth of American oak deflecting shot: the "her sides must be made of iron!" comment about USS Constitution probably didn't happen. American oak was in demand as Britain was increasingly deforested, but oak is oak and isn't some sort of magical material that gives you +3 to deflection.
To more directly answer your question, I'd point you to this older thread.