I'm sorry about your loss.
For a naval battle I gues there are various options..
Maybe setting it in the pike and shot timeframe could be neat. Spanish galleons against pirates? Or maybe the french or english?
Pirates DID pray on spanish treasure galleons filled with gold after all.
It might allow for some creative uses of shipwreck parts, to help portray a sinking ship with clickies holding on to it as it goes down!
It could potentially also include a port with cannon batteries giving support, and maybe pirates raiding that port as well, or rowboats being used from the harbour to save shipwrecked soldiers.