How do I learn about things?

[moltobenny]

Big fan of the game -- the slow, grueling, almost majestic nature of naval combat just does it for me. My question is, for someone who likes the game, likes the genre, but doesn't know much about the equipment and weaponry being modeled, and how to best use it, is there some easy-to-find, easy-to-use repository of information like that?

I know there's countless history books I could pore through, but something more like a tutorial or reference guide would be helpful just to get started.

Thanks!