A Dutch warship is shown in port-broadside view, riding head to wind and sea, in storm conditions under bare poles, with her yards sent down. It flies the Dutch flag from the stern and mainmast head and pennants can be seen from the fore and mizzen mastheads. It also has the identifying emblem of the sun carved on the stern. A barrel floating in the foreground on the right, thrown overboard as a placatory offering to the spirits of the deep, is a characteristic feature used by Dutch marine artists.

Sillemans was believed to have been born in England but spent his working life in Amsterdam. He principally painted grisailles in pen and ink on a gesso ground in the style of van de Velde the Elder. He applied a variety of techniques and experimented with a method of offset printing directly on to the gesso ground, evident here in the regularity of the waves, and later he applied the detail and foreground by hand. The regularity of the lines in the waves indicate that he has used the print technique in this picture. It is signed 'Silliman' in the foreground, bottom-centre.