This is a good time to read a book, especially in the northern latitudes.
Just did a search for
Six Frigates and came across a NY Times review and even the review was a good read! Complete with numerous quotes.
The early years of the US Navy was interesting and Pres. Thomas Jefferson is mentioned not too kindly in
Six Frigates and then again (also not too kindly) in
The Pirate Coast by Richard Zacks, another well researched and well written book. The part about the “Secret Mission of 1805” is an insight into how things were conducted even a couple centuries ago.
The USS
Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor, headquarters for the Barbary pirates connected to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey today), and was subsequently captured by the arabs. What the captured ~300 crew went through for several years was horrific. Ransom was the way they did business then. The other nations paid ransom to get their ships and crews back but the new United States decided they wouldn't play that game. Another must read and will give an insight into today’s world affairs.
Another good book is
From Merciless Invaders about the Spanish Armada by Alexander McKee. It is about the battle between the (then) greatest and richest world power, Spain, against unprepared England but what I got out of it is how the course of world history would have changed within in the matter of only a few hours due to running out of gunpowder!