As a beginner ship I'd strongly recommend the Suffren. Large cruiser with three props and dual rudders. Simple single motor driving the center prop and dual rudders give great turning - almost matches larger ships. Dual sterns lets you turn out of trouble and hit as you leave.
Richelieu can be ok if you have a large club and pond. Play oversized criuser by turning way away from folks and come back into the action with the dual sidemounts. Once your target scurries away, run over to the other side of the pond and turn again. I've enjoyed mine over the years and love getting into ship sandwiches.
Montcalm is a nice fast little ship - I did her as my first ship and probably lost a couple of years that way.
Fantastique is smaller...
Mogador is smaller still and was a hard build. She is fun on the water but with a single gun runs out of ammo very fast!
I'd like to build an Algerie and a Provence. I'm working on a generic cargo ship to try to learn to do fiberglass molds.