What is the setting of H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian?

The novel features two settings. The first and most significant is H.M.S. Surprise, a sixth-rate twenty-eight gun British frigate of French build. Originally named Unity, she was captured during combat and placed in English service where she has remained for many years. The ship is unofficially known as Nemesis for a particularly audacious raid she made on the Spanish in 1797.

The second setting presented in the novel is diffuse and consists of numerous ports, cities, and islands. Included among these settings are a French port, Madeira, Bombay, Calcutta, St. Paul's Rocks, the coast of Brazil, and a few minor islands in the Indian Ocean.