User talk:Dbdehb

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Edit to HMS Ariel (1911)
I've reverted your edit to the Ariel article, because so far as I can tell, it was Attentive which towed E6 to the first Heligoland Bight patrol of WWI, and this would make sense, since Attentive and Ariel were both in the same destroyer flotilla. Do you have a decent reference that says it was Amethyst? If you reply here, I will answer here. Many thanks. Shem (talk) 18:12, 14 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi, I am new to this so hope I am replying correctly. The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes (p.68) is one source that states this. Several other sources are probably derivitive from this. An independent source is Fox (THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KONIGEN LOUISE AND THE SINKING OF THE AMPHION. AUGUST 5TH AND ~TH, 1914, Naval Review, 1917, p.132, available online) states quote At daylight (5.30 a.m.) on August 5th the Amphion and 3rd Flotilla, consisting of 19 first-class destroyers, left Harwich, preceded by Fearless and 1st Flotilla; Commodore T. in Amethyst, with two submarines and one T.B.D., having left some two hours earlier. end quote HMS Attentive seems to have been at Dover with the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla according to the dreadnought project (best to look under sixth destroyer flotilla. What sources do you have showing she towed E6 or E8? I can give better citations, but children waking so have to go now! Regards. Dbdehb (talk) 07:55, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

You're doing fine with replying, although if you insert a " : " before your reply, it will indent your comment and make it easier to read later. I've done this for you.

If your source says that either Attentive or Amethyst towed E6, then by all means change it, but if you're inferring it from a range of sources, then it's original research, and we don't do that. If you find a reference that sets this straight, by all means change it, but please do insert the code " " after the fact so that it's properly referenced. WP:CITEFOOT gives more detail - and you can always ask for help. Of course, if you do find that killer reference, please change HMS Attentive (1904), HMS Amethyst (1903), HMS E8 and HMS E6 as well!

I dare say you're right, by the way. This source certainly agrees, but searching the web means you pick up a lot of Wikipedia mirrors and sites that have got their information from WP. I much prefer to use print, but I don't have anything that specifically covers this event. If you do, so much the better. Your interest and help are much appreciated. Please don't be disheartened by the initial burden of having to understand the (apparently arcane) rules here. They all exist to make Wikipedia a better encyclopaedia. You are welcome to ask for help at any time, either at my talk page, or here.

Yours, Shem (talk) 16:32, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks for all the help - I have had another go and - I think - worked out how to use the reference template. I have re-edited Ariel, and also done E6 and E8, but Attentive did not mention the incident, and the Amethyst herself does not mention the incident, so I have left that for the moment as I would like to rewrite the earlier part of the Amethysts history as the Harwich Force flagship, so I will cover it when I do that! Hope all this looks OK to you - please let me know if you see anything wrong! As you say I prefer to use books, of which I have far too many!


 * Regards Dbdehb (talk) 06:41, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

You've done a beautiful job! Far better, in fact, than I ever did when I started editing here a 7 years ago. If I may be allowed one minor word of advice? The style guide has the reference after the punctuation - see WP:REFPUNCT. I've tidied up, but you might as well know. There is, I think, a bot that tidies up this sort of stuff in due course anyway. I think it's a great idea to build the Amethyst article up, and I'd be delighted to help in anyway you want - just ask at my talk page, and I'll be watching this page as well unless it gets really busy. If you quote my name using the markup "User:Shem1805 " on your talk page, it will appear as a notification next time I log on, and I'll come running! It works like this ... User:Dbdehb ... see the notification? Yours, Shem (talk) 15:31, 16 February 2014 (UTC)