Ark Royal and believable imperfect warships

Christopher Nuttall's ships earn praise for having limitations instead of being perfect all-rounders. Ark Royal is a seventy-year-old interstellar carrier whose fame protects it from being scrapped or sold to a lesser power. Theodore Smith has spent much of his naval career aboard her after an assignment originally intended as punishment. Keeping the ship in something resembling fighting condition has become his obsession. His alcoholism, the ship's age, and the navy's neglect leave both commander and carrier as institutional embarrassments. An urgent summons brings them back to the navy's attention.