Stephen Bone was the son of the influential draughtsman and etcher Sir Muirhead Bone (1876-1953), who was an official war artist in both World Wars. Stephen Bone was appointed official war artist by the War Artists Advisory Committee in 1943, and assigned to the Admiralty. His output was prolific and notable for the unusual viewpoints from which he represented his subjects. Many of these were published in the Illustrated London News, and show a variety of naval craft (including aircraft carriers and S-class submarines), views of dockyards and scenes of life on board ship. The National Maritime Museum holds some 80 oil paintings and drawings Bone produced for the War Artists Advisory Committee.

As an official war artist, Bone spent time on board aircraft carriers. In this painting, the Deck Control Officer of 'HMS Pursuer' and a pilot watch over the hangar’s lift. A Grumman Wildcat fighter, its wings folded, is being pushed into the hangar, while the lift is returning to take down another. At the end of the flight deck, a third aircraft is set up for night flying. Bone’s paintings are characteristic in their association of man and machine, and in their inclusive viewpoints, which place the viewer at the edge of the scene, here that of the lift