Talk:North Channel Naval Duel

A fact from North Channel Naval Duel appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 1 December 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that HMS Drake was so ill-prepared for action against John Paul Jones's Ranger that musket balls had to be passed round in a hat during the North Channel naval duel, 24 April 1778?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/December.

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Untitled[edit]

I've created this stub page because I feel the significance of the fight between Ranger and Drake is underestimated. At the time, Ranger's mission was seen as a spectacular triumph for the Americans, comparable with a major terrorist attack today in its effects on civilian morale and defence policy. Calling the engagement something like "The One Where Ranger Fought Drake" seemed inadvisable, so I've followed convention and named it after the location.

If nobody adds some details of the fight (or removes the entire article) by the weekend (17-18 Nov) I'll expand it, with references, and link it to other relevant articles; probably also taking the opportunity to reduce the current duplication of information. David Trochos 14:37, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Now expanded (perhaps a little over-expanded, actually); references to follow in a few hours' time, with luck. David Trochos (talk) 13:50, 27 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

References and illustrations now added. Notoriously, there are no contemporary depictions of either Ranger or Drake, and I'd rather not include a picture of Jones unless a matching picture of Burdon can be found. If anybody knows of any good essays about the action (as opposed to chapters in Jones biographies) by specialist military historians, do please start a "Further Reading" section. David Trochos (talk) 02:08, 28 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This article isn't in encyclopedic style at all. Needs editing 59.167.130.145 23:45, 30 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yup- I have problems dealing with the subtleties of these complex situations in an encyclopedic way; help definitely needed. David Trochos 00:20, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It does make for quite enjoyable reading, though! -- Tom Anderson 2008-01-11 17:38 +0000 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.40.81.216 (talk)

Ouch![edit]

My thanks to the anonymous poster from IP address 82.181.77.240, who corrected a really stupid mistake of mine on 19 April 2009! David Trochos (talk) 21:50, 19 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

UK and GB[edit]

It would seem Great Britain is correct as this was before 801. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.174.161.103 (talk) 19:28, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Technically, the correct phrase would be "Great Britain and Ireland", as many of Drake's personnel were Irish. Is the change worth making? David Trochos (talk) 05:42, 14 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV[edit]

This reads like an absurd puff piece. Much like the article on the Hessians.

As for the British, they had learned their lesson well—the Royal Navy could not defend British shipping, nor British coasts, nor even its own fighting vessels against American raiders...
The naval duel in the North Channel was the unequivocally triumphant climax to his remarkable mission, which demonstrated that the world's most powerful nation was as vulnerable to attack as any other...

The world's most powerful nation? Please try to contain yourselves. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.214.99.55 (talk) 20:43, 9 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]