# Talk:USS R. B. Forbes

Do we want the parenthetical 1845 on the end of the name of this article? Any reason to not just call it USS R. B. Forbes? KConWiki (talk) 17:31, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Not seeing any rationale for the parenthetical 1845, I am moving this article to the name USS R. B. Forbes. Please let me know if this is a problem. KConWiki (talk) 00:53, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:USS R. B. Forbes/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Usernameunique (talk · contribs) 06:06, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Lead

Same points as below re: year of construction, and inflation.
Inflation done, see below for year of construction
Infobox

"screws" or "screw propellers"?
Standardized with the less jargony "screw propellers"
Construction and characteristics

Is there no contemporaneous source which can pin down the date?
Not that I've seen well enough to pin it down.  I found an announcement published in August 1845 stating that Tufts in Boston intended to launch a iron steamer later that week, but it didn't give the name and I couldn't find confirmation that actually occurred.  I did find a passing statement to R. B. Forbes being in service in a January 1846 news article, though
How about starting the next section with a sentence along the lines of "R. B. Forbes was in service by January 1846."? --Usernameunique (talk) 03:55, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
Inconsistent abbreviation (e.g., feet but m)
Should be fixed
I'd suggest spelling out the first use of each, but it's not something to hold back the review. --Usernameunique (talk) 03:56, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
"as well as two boilers" — unclear what this is referring to. Power came from screw propellers and boilers, or power came from screw propellers, which were in turn driven by both engines and boilers?
Powered by propellers, which were driven by engines, which were fed by boilers.  I've tried to clarify.
Who were Tufts and Forbes? Is it known why it was named after him?
Glossed both
Would "named after Robert Bennet Forbes, a captain and ship owner who helped originate the concept of the ship" be accurate? --Usernameunique (talk) 03:59, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
Service career

"She was present" — Did the ship participate in any way?
Dignitaries watched it - clarified
"its journey to Ireland" — This makes it sound as if the journey was particularly noteworthy. Was it?
Added that it was for famine relief
$100/$52,500 — {{inflation}} should be used.
Added
Perhaps put the first paragraph in chronological order.
Done
Any word on what happened between 1853 and 1861?
Working on trying to expand this a bit
I've added a few things that seem to be somewhat noteworthy (both in 1860).  Most of the coverage of stuff in this specific time frame seems to be routine reporting of it doing standard tugboat or wrecking ship duty
"she was described as ... and was compared favorably" — By whom? --Usernameunique (talk) 04:04, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
"R. B. Forbes was not financially successful, and went through several owners." — Anything known about in which years it changed hands? --Usernameunique (talk) 04:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
Is William G. Gregory worth a red link?
Probably not, there were a lot of Acting Masters, and I haven't seen anything in my research for this that would suggest particular significance
its/it occasionally used when I think you want to say her/she
Done
The Civil War is mentioned in the lead, but not here.
Added
"reporting that some" — Who reported?
Newcomb.  Clarified
"she had suffered damage" — During the battle?
Not clear - The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies implies it was at some point after an incident where it pulled USS Florida (1850) from grounding, but the secondary sources I've seen are silent and the primary reports are kinda vague
Perhaps a gloss on what the Mortar Flotilla was?
Done
Any more word on why the options were burn vs. capture (i.e., why there was no prospect of rescue/salvage)?
The official report states that it was deemed impossible to get it unstuck; I've added that
Is there a wreck site of any sort?
Not that I've seen mentioned
References

#1 — Add archived URL.
Added
#8 — Add archived URL. Page/volume/issue numbers missing.
All added, although I suspect the paper was using no. in the way different that intended by the template (No. 6203!)
Possibly, though in my experience it's not uncommon for papers to use a cumulative number rather than a yearly number. --Usernameunique (talk) 04:09, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
#9 — Page number?
Version I used on Gbooks didn't contain page numbers, will try to find one that does
Internet Archive version isn't page numbered either - from what I tell, this source was just never printed with page numbers
Sources

Publishers can take links.
All done except for Flint, for which I cannot find an appropriate link for the publisher
Flint 1989 — This is in the public domain as a government work, no? It appears to be freely available on Google Books, at any rate. If so, it should be given a link.
Added
Morrison 1905 — Public domain, so a link should be found. Scientific American can be linked.
Added and linked
Official Records — Series & volume numbers missing.
Added
Puleo 2020 — ISBN should be hyphenated.
Done
This version looked at. --Usernameunique (talk) 06:18, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

@Usernameunique: - All of the above points have been replied to. Hog Farm  Talk 18:01, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
Hog Farm, looks good. A couple more comments above. --Usernameunique (talk) 04:11, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
@Usernameunique: - These should all be dealt with, except for the dates of sale.  Source doesn't give any details, and searching in period newspapers hasn't brought anything up.  It's very hard to search for the pre-war career of this vessel because of how ubiquitous the ship's namesake was in Boston society at the time and the dozens of routine notices of the ship calling at ports. Hog Farm  Talk 06:10, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
Looks good, Hog Farm, passing now. --Usernameunique (talk) 06:46, 23 January 2022 (UTC)