] Honan mentions that Charles' wife lived with him on board his ship.

This would have been the Namur a "Guard Ship" stationed at the Noire off Sheerness, around 1811. I'm not sure about any children. More on that in subsequent installments.

As for the exposure to dangers and unpleasant experiences, there's a lot about Regency life that was not particularly genteel. A guard ship wasn't expected to be on the "front line", so to speak, the the danger there was not too great, although not non-existant.