Inscribed 'Huns in Kiel Bay' by the artist, lower right. and probably a drawing made on the spot, this is a scene in Kielerfjorde during the Kiel Week yachting regatta, 23 - 30 June 1914, after Kaiser Wilhelm II re-opened the deepened Kiel Canal on 23 June. (Wyllie was present for the opening to illustrate it for the 'Graphic' magazine, going on the liner 'Tantallon Castle'.) It appears to be the original sketch for the frontispiece to Wyllie and M.F. Wren's 'Sea Fights of the Great War' (1918) which was reproduced as 'Before the War: The German Fleet at Kiel'. The ship on the right is the German battleship 'Deutschland', launched on 19 November 1904 and completed on 3 August 1906. She was flagship of the 2nd Squadron of the High Seas Fleet and the other ships in the drawing are her sister ships. Also present, but not shown in this drawing, were the British 2nd Battle Squadron ('King George V', 'Audacious', 'Ajax' and 'Centurion') under Admiral Sir George Warrender, and the cruisers 'Southampton', 'Birmingham' and 'Nottingham'. They sailed from Kiel on 30 June 1914.