The present painting features in the centre an English man-of-war flying the flag of the Red Squadron on the stern and the Union Jack on the masthead. In the left foreground is a small Dutch fishing boat. The clouds of gunsmoke on the water and the rapid unfurling of the sails by the crew of the man-of-war suggest the onset of a skirmish. It has been attributed to a follower of the Dutch marine painter Willem van de Velde.

Van de Velde was born in Leiden, the son of Willem van de Velde the Elder and brother of the landscape painter Adriaen van de Velde. By 1673, due to the collapse of the art market following the French invasion, he had moved from Amsterdam to England. Within two years he found employment at the royal court in the service of Charles II. Van der Velde’s stock in trade consisted of views of Dutch and English shipping, often involved in battles during the Anglo-Dutch trade wars. His art proved highly influential on Dutch and British artists well into the eighteenth century, including Peter Monamy (1681–1749), whose work the present picture also resembles.