Though inscribed by the artist, 'US Cruiser', lower right, the watercolour study here is a reasonably accurate depiction of the American destroyer 'Shaw' (1916) as she would have appeared in Portsmouth during October 1918. The 'Shaw' was escorting the troopship 'Aquitania' (1914) on 9 October 1918 when her rudder jammed and she crossed ahead of the 'Aquitania', which hit her just forward of the bridge and sliced 90 feet off the 'Shaw's' bow. The American's bridge was mangled and she caught fire, but her crew managed to get the ship into port and she remained under repair at Portsmouth until 29 May 1919, when she sailed for home. After the war, the 'Shaw' transferred to the US Coast Guard, 1926-33, and was broken up from August 1934. The merchant ship shown in the pencil sketch at top right bears a strong resemblance to a War Standard D-type collier of which 27 were built in British shipyards during 1918 and 1919.