Dudley Pope's entry into the historical fiction arena is the Lord Ramage novels. Set between the years 1796 and 1807, the action is fast paced and the details of the ship handling is sometimes overwhelming, but at least it's educational. You can almost picture yourself knowing how to handle a ship of the line by the time you complete the series (almost..). Pope's knowledge of the subject mater, both historical and nautical shows through in every chapter.
Lord Ramage himself is a likable character, heavily dependent on luck, he bounces from one adventure to next, always seeming to be in the right place at the right time to be in the midst of all the major events of the time. When ever things seem hopeless, Ramage reaches into his bottomless bag of tricks and comes up with some new twist to confound the French and accomplish his mission with minimal losses and maximum damage.
Pope's writing is everything you want in an adventure book, well paced, engaging and entertaining. The characters go through various growth moments through the series but never lose their essential qualities that make you like them from the start.