Talk:USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente

Painting's artist
I'm attempting to find info for the artist of the painting in the infobox. The signature (bottom right) looks something like "Jiv Sehmin" -- but no such person can be found (using Google). Any ideas? 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:542F:18A9:2EF1:9E7F (talk) 02:12, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The image page states its by Rear Admiral John William Schmidt, you can see more info here .XavierGreen (talk) 02:30, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I saw that, but assumed "author" meant that the painting was from Rear Admiral John William Schmidt, not necessarily painted by him -- but now that I compare his name to the signature, it could actually be "JW Schmidt". Btw, the source link is "error 404".

the American naval depot at Saint Kitts (??)
Considering St Kitt's was British at the time, this sounds strange...Feroshki (talk) 22:55, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
 * If you consider that both America and Britain were at war with France at the time its not strange at all. The offical British policy was to carry on a state of co-belligerency with America in regards to hostilities with the French. Thus, while not formally Allied, the British shared coded signals with the Americans, both governments allowed each others Merchant vessels to join each others convoys, and the British allowed American naval vessels to refit and resupply at their ports. On occasion however, various British commanders on an individual basis would reject this policy and be somewhat hostile to American operations in the region. The American government came to an arrangement with the British colonial government at Saint Kitts where they were allowed to set up a Naval depot there. It was actually the main US Naval base in the Carribean during the war, ships put in there to reprovision, repair, land captured prisoners there, ect. I'm not entirely sure when the depot was shut down, but it must have been quite soon after the 1800 convention that ended the war.XavierGreen (talk) 17:40, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

First victory?
The article states: "The end of the action signaled the first victory over an enemy warship for the newly formed United States Navy." This is hard to believe, as the navy claims a founding date of 1775, and there were a few naval victories in the Revolution (Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis springs to mind). If there is some technical distinction, or the 1775 date is an exaggeration, that should be explained. If there is none, this assertion should be deleted. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 16:29, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
 * "[T]he United States Navy was formally established with the creation of the Department of the Navy in April 1798." (emphasis mine)
 * —2606:A000:4C0C:E200:582A:4795:C7CE:A2D (talk) 19:57, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The navy of the Revolutionary War was an entirely seperate organization (the Continental Navy) was an entirely seperate organization apart from the United States Navy. The Continental Navy was disbanded in 1785 and all its officers and sailors discharged. The United States Navy was officially formed on paper with the Naval Act of 1794, but it was not officially organized until the creation of the Department of the Navy on 30 April 1798, as stated above. Between 1785 and 1798, the only naval forces of the United States were the cutters of the Revenue Marine (founded in 1790), boats and barges of the US Customs Service (founded in 1789), and on rare occasions hired vessels directly under the employ of the State Department. The only battle with a commisioned enemy naval vessel involving American forces of any sort prior to the action between Constellation vs L'Insurgente was an action between the US Revenue Marine cutter Unanimity and the British schooner HMS Mosquito in 1798. That action did not involve a vessel of the US Navy, and in any case, the Revenue Marine cutter involved was defeated.XavierGreen (talk) 17:13, 11 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Perhaps the explanatory footnote (Note 4) could be expanded to include a concise summary of some of the above information. (?) 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:582A:4795:C7CE:A2D (talk) 19:00, 11 February 2017 (UTC)
 * There already is a footnote which states the first instance of a capture by the US Navy, i don't know how far out into the weeds this individual article should go into the background of the US Navy. One can go to the US Navy article and read about the history of the navy there, and the US Navy article is bluelinked in this one.XavierGreen (talk) 20:19, 11 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you're right; but, usually potential ambiguities should be able to be resolved without conferring linked articles. 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:582A:4795:C7CE:A2D (talk) 21:06, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

source issue
At infobox, Casualties and losses, French side, "1 frigate", footnote 1: Harrison, 1858 pp. 156–158, and below, "208 captured", footnote 2: Toll, 2006 p. 117.

But I can't found any book have "Harrison" & "Toll" at all, not just this article, also Action of 1 January 1800 & USS Constellation vs La Vengeance, so, anyone please help me out here? Thanks.--Jarodalien (talk) 07:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)