A close-up view of the after part of the quartedeck of HMS Waterwitch (1893), viewed looking aft from the starboard side. On the right, a sailor stands in full-length foul-weather coat just forward of the ship's wheel facing the camera. directly behind him is the standard compass binnacle. The edge of the round canvas-covered structure in front of the sailor is the companion way to the Sail Room below. A very large wave [or land?] looms high in the background above the level of the taffrail.

While the caption states a it is heavy seas in the Formosa Channel, the ship does not seem to be underway, as there is no one steering and the boom above is on its crutch central to the vessel with the main sheet block centralised. It may be that the ship is riding at anchor.

The original negative envelope was labelled: 'Heavy Sea. W'itch. 1.11.00'.