Watercolour drawing, technique includes scratching out. HMS 'Active' was a corvette launched in 1869 at the Thames Ironworks, Blackwall. She was 270 feet long and had a displacement of 3080 tons. She was designed to carry six 7-inch MLR guns and four 6-inch MLR guns. During the 1880s 'Active' was fitted with ten 6-inch BL guns, two 6-inch guns and two 14-inch torpedo tubes. 'Active' was constructed of iron with an outer skin of oak and had copper sheathing below the waterline. She did not enter service until 1873 when she went as the commodore's ship on the Cape of Good Hope and West African station. She is shown here during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1887.