Conscription wasn't voluntary, communications were rudimentry and most sailors and marines were serving because they got a bounty to sign up, and were desperate for money. Many were pressed- hijacked from Merchant vessels, captures from foreign forces and foreign merchant vessels, and forced to serve in the British Navy.

The navy at the time was not as family friendly as it is now, and the naval gazette might be the first knowledge loved ones had of their sons, fathers, husband or friends being enslaved by Berber pirates in Tunisia, or died of fever on the Sargasso sea, or shot through and through in action. In England, there was a quota system obliging each county to contribute a certain number of men but those loved ones might be from the USA, or Ireland, Tahiti or anywhere else the Navy sailed - especially if they were already experienced sailors.

In fact, this habit of Ruling the Waves, forcing sailors into service, without much regard for little things like what nationality they were, capturing and searching ships at will, had caused so much consternation and disgust for the Americans , that congress had actually agreed to raise taxes (although not without a great deal of carry-on) to built an American Navy (of six frigates, manned only by volunteers who were promoted on merit) to protect the large United States merchant navy that were sailing out to supply Europe (from the British point of view, their Enemy, France)with pelts and herrings and cotton and cheeses and every other kind of thing they could trade.

The British Navy - unquestionably the largest in the world at the time, and in force in every part of the world at the time, continued to reserve its right to regard Americans as British citizens to be pressed into service, or French sympathisers to be delayed with inspections that involved opening every barrel of herrings to check for contraband arms, done at leisure until the cheeses spoiled, and then taking off, leaving the vessel with not enough crew to man it to safe harbour, or enough supplies to last the distance. That sort of aggravation eventually meant the United States declared war on Britain - the war of 1812 (passionate accounts of which were published in the US newspapers at the time).

I don't think the British thought the US Navy was much of a threat - the British were by far the superior force - the USA had six frigates that had been built specially (none bigger than 44 guns) and ten other smaller vessels, the British - well just have a look at the Navy list!
So they just continued to police the east coast and maintaining a blockade from Bermuda to Nova Scotia. One of the sailors who had that duty (took it on voluntarily) was Charles Austen, first lieutenant on the HMS Endymion (a 44 gun frigate, and the fastest sailing ship in the fleet) in 1805. He had taken some prizes and been promoted and met his wife (Fanny Palmer) in Bemuda (they married in 1807, when Fanny was just 17) and had aquired two daughters before they returned to England (Charles being by then Captain of Canopus) in 1813.
Until then, his loving (one might even say doting) sisters could only communicate with him and his never seen wife and children, by care parcels and letters, so any report or rumour of him or his ships were of great interest to Miss Austen.

I have not mentioned her brother Frank, who was also in the Navy and who had seen more action at that point in time. He actually wrote some of the reports of battles, that appeared in the gazettes. He had not been absent from England so long, but I am sure his reports would not be ignored by his family because of that. In fact, his reports of the war were as interesting to the people of the nation, as important to the national interest, then, as any embedded reporter in any war the nation happened to be in now. Unlike now, war was regarded as heroic, and individual Captains became celebrities, famous for their personal valour and boldness.
(My source for Charles Austen's history in this case is "Jane Austen, a Family Record"By Deirdre Le Faye, rather than the Navy lists. Navy lists don't mention wives and daughters)

And even long after the war of 1812 ended (in 1815), these accounts were widely used as the basis for the histories of these celebrated fights.
When Theodore Roosevelt set himself to the task to give an accurate narrative of events on the Naval war of 1812, he noted in his preface (dated 1882):