The inscription in German above the scene gives the title "The Terrible and Bloody Battle between the Dutch and the English which occurred on the 20th February 1654". The inscription in German below, flanked by portraits of Admiral Tromp (left) and Frances Plack (right) includes an account of the Battle of Portland, inaccurately naming the Dutch commanders and apparently confusing General Robert Blake with Sir Francis Blake, spelt "Francs Plack", who was related to the general through the marriage of his nephew, also called Robert Blake (see Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, under 'Blake of Twisel Castle, Co. Durham'). Blake's flagship, the Triumph, 62 guns, is shown port quarter, or stern view, in the centre foreground, with the figure 'I' above.
When he commanded the Dutch Fleet at the Battle of Portland in February 1653, Tromp had been at sea since the battle off Dungeness (see Cambridge Modern Histories Vol. IV p.475) which took place in November 1652. An order by Tromp, written 'on board the ship Brederode this 6th of December 1652' (published by the Naval Records Society in The First Dutch War Vol III p.77) identifies the ship represented here in the centre of the picture under 'A' and described in the inscription as the ship of Admiral Tromp.