To kind of add to this digression (because you know how much I like rambling about historical minutia), one thing I learned when I was doing the research for HMS Foraker was that contrary to popular belief, women were actually kind of a mainstay aboard men of war. While most of them were only aboard in home waters, the wives of sailors (especially commissioned and warrant officers) often stayed aboard during long cruises, especially if the Captain was well disposed towards them. HMS Goliath had more than fifty women aboard at the battle of Aboukir Bay, and they pulled their weight in battle, cooped up below-decks with the nasty and vital duty of making up cartridges for the great guns.
Likewise, during some unrelated research, I also found out that while people have, in the past, complained about the unrealistic nature of the male protagonist in The Affairs of the Court climbing the slippery pole to power by garnering the romantic attentions of a powerful Queen through charm and wit and “blueballing”, there is a perfectly good historical example of this actually happening in the Spanish Court.