Talk:USS Varuna (1861)/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Ealdgyth (talk · contribs) 13:33, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

Oh, look! It's a ship from HF! I'll get to this one shortly. Ealdgyth (talk) 13:33, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (reference section): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

• Lead:
  • shouldn't we use his rank in "when David Glasgow Farragut led an attack against Confederate"?
    • Added
  • "and was engaged with a chase with the" do you mean "and was engaged in a chase with the"?
    • Corrected
  • "Varuna sunk within 15 minutes" just reads weird to me. Prefer "Varuna sank within 15 minutes"
    • Changed. The original wording is how we talk where I'm from, but it's probably not right.
• Construction:
  • It's not WRONG, but can I suggest the first paragraph be broken up and rearranged into two paragraphs like so:
    • Done

Background and construction

The American Civil War broke out in April 1861, and the Union adopted the Anaconda Plan, which involved blockading the Confederate coastline and taking control of the Mississippi River. At the beginning of the war, the Union Navy had only 42 ships still considered active, with others mothballed and in poor condition. Many of the existing active ships were too large to enter the ports that would need to be blockaded. The Union found itself needing a number of new ships in order to fulfill the new operations goals.

"Varuna, who was named after a Vedic deity associated with the skies and seas, was laid down at the Mallory Yard of Mystic, Connecticut, in late January or early February, 1861. Launched in September 1861, she was intended to be used as a merchant ship on the trade route between New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Navy purchased Varuna on December 31, at New York City, before her construction had been completed.

According to naval historian Paul H. Silverstone, she had a tonnage of 1,247 tons burthen, while the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) places her tonnage at 1,300 tons. Varuna was 218 feet (66 m) long, and had a beam of 34 feet 8 inches (10.57 m). Her depth of hold was 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 m) She was a steamship and was powered by a single screw propeller. Her crew numbered 157. She was armed with eight 8-inch (20 cm) Dahlgren guns and two 30-pound (14 kg) Parrott rifles. The naval historian W. Craig Gaines describes Varuna as either a sloop or a corvette, while the DANFS describes her as a screw gunboat. "

• • If we have any specific tie-ins to Varuna's purchase being for the blockade duty - stick it on the end of the proposed second paragraph above.
    • I haven't seen one
• Service history:
  • "As the Union commander at Port Royal was absent" uh... why was he absent and for a long enough period that it delayed Varuna's voyage for at least a week or two, it appears? Do we know the time period she was stuck at Port Royal?
    • I've been able to place a reason for why the regular commander, but it's not quite clear when Varuna was cleared for other duty
  • Again, probably should give Farragut's rank - we give Boggs' rank, after all.
    • Done
  • "He arrived at Ship Island in late February" it is implied that Ship Island is near New Orleans, but ... perhaps give a location - is it in the mouth of the Mississippi? Near the mouth? Just out in the Gulf somewhere? Some high spot in the Louisiana bayous that's got some weird name? (Can you tell I lived in Houston for 20 years... Cajuns... they are so strange sometimes...)
    • It's an island off Mississippi. Added. (I have in-laws out in the Louisiana bayous, and yes, it's a weird world over there)
  • "fired through her own deck" ... I'm assuming the deck ABOVE the gun is meant here? The mental image of the gun firing into the deck below the gun is a bit Wil E. Coyote ...
    • It actually was fired through the deck below. The sources note that they couldn't depress the cannon enough normally (aim the barrel down diagonally), so they just fired at the proper angle through the deck below.
  • "Varuna attempted to turn to starboard to allow for a broadside to be fired from that side of the ship.[13] The broadside caused great destruction on Governor Moore's deck" if the broadside fired, I'm assumign the turn happened?
    • Rephrased
  • "located a target with" ... the mental image here is of a paper target ... perhaps a different word might be better?
    • I've rephrased to "signal". Target is a bit of a technical term here, so it's not particularly easy to replace
• I randomly googled three phrases and only turned up Wikipedia mirrors. Earwig's tool shows no sign of copyright violation.

I've put the article on hold for seven days to allow folks to address the issues I've brought up. Feel free to contact me on my talk page, or here with any concerns, and let me know one of those places when the issues have been addressed. If I may suggest that you strike out, check mark, or otherwise mark the items I've detailed, that will make it possible for me to see what's been addressed, and you can keep track of what's been done and what still needs to be worked on. Ealdgyth (talk) 15:08, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

@Ealdgyth: - I've replied to everything above. And yes, the bit about the firing through the deck is as strange as it sounds. Hog Farm _Talk 03:23, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

Looks good. Passing this now. Ealdgyth (talk) 13:52, 26 March 2022 (UTC)