A fairly loose pen drawing by Van de Velde, the Younger, depicting a calm scene of British shipping. To the right of centre is a port quarter view of a small ship, possibly a ship-rigged yacht, lying becalmed with her sails loosed. A cloud of gun smoke disperses ahead, indicating that the ship has just fired a salute, while further to the right a boat is being rowed, presumably towards the shore off the page. On the left is a port bow view of a boat with a square-set sail and various other vessels visible in the distance.