This small painting is characterised by its atmospheric rendering of a traditionally formal subject matter. The sea and cloudy sky are merged in a light palette of greys. Smoke from the salutes being fired blurs the horizon and hides the official action, which has been pushed into the background. Onlookers follow the spectacle from a small vessel in the left-hand foreground across the calm water.

Robert Cleveley was the son of John Cleveley the Elder and the twin brother of John Cleveley the Younger. Both brothers became painters having worked in Deptford Royal Dockyard. He was appointed Draughtsman to Prince William Duke of Clarence, later William IV, and subsequently Marine Painter to the Prince Regent, later George IV. He specialized in battle scenes such as this and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1780 to 1803. The NMM also holds more than 30 of his drawings.