This is one of two similarly composed sketches of which the other is PAD8698 (Pocock's No. 2). It is inscribed lower left by Pocock, 'Royal Sovereign almost before the Wind' and, top right, 'No. 1 / The French Adm[iral] /with Main & Mizzen mast going / by the board'. Pocock appears to have been present at the Battle of 1 June 1794 on board the 'Pegasus' (Captain Barlow), one of the frigates in Howe's fleet, which served to repeat Howe’s signals during the battle from an observing position to windward. In this Pocock was following the precedent of van de Velde the Elder some 140 years earlier, and it is the first instance that we know of a professional artist accompanying a fleet with the intention of documenting a battle since van de Velde the Elder. Subsequently Pocock made paintings of the battle, based on the sketches he took on the spot, which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796 and 1797. One of these, showing the duel between 'Brunswick' and 'Vengeur', is in the Museum's collection (BHC0471).