A scene on south bank of the Thames at Rotherhithe, looking east to the tower of St Anne's church, Limehouse. Two ships are shown on the right, viewed from the starboard quarter and flying the red ensign. Both are, by type, merchant vessels but that on the left, on the stocks just prior to launching, appears to be a naval transport flying a naval pennant from her central flagstaff and a white St George's jack. The other is refitting in a dry-dock. Piles of timber are stacked on the wharf between these two with a Dutch flag prominent on a quayside hoist. A ship on the far right is shown on the water, apparently with her rig struck down to her lower masts. On the left of the vessel ready for launch stands another under construction on the same slipway and in-frame up to her top-timbers. In the right background, in starboard broadside view, is another merchant vessel with only her lower masts standing, probably at the inland end of a dock or basin, voiding to the Thames out of sight on the left. Houses lie beyond and on the left of the skeletal ship is a low building with a red roof and a pile of timber in front of it. Men can be seen on ladders working with the timber. Two merchant ships are moored off the point, in stern view, with the masts of a third visible beyond. Others lie in the river on the left, where a cutter is also tacking upstream in the distance. In the foreground on the right a couple sit in a Thames skiff being used as a water taxi. In the centre a Dutch trading dogger is coming upstream, her starboard leeboard visible, and the male passenger in the skiff gestures towards her while his oarsman turns his head to look out for her. Although similar craft often appear in Dutch paintings, its presence combined with the Dutch flag on the quay indicates that the artist had intentionally established a strong Dutch connection. It is possible that the picture, painted in 1792, marks a contemporary event of Dutch or Anglo/Dutch significance such as the 100th anniversary of the Anglo-Dutch defeat of the French at the Battle of La Hogue in 1692. The prominence of the man gesturing in the skiff may indicate that he has a commercial interest in the scene. The shipyard shown was previously thought to be Quallet's at Pitcher's Point. However, this had gone by 1792 and Richard Horwood's map of that year suggests that it is more likely to be Young's yard with the 'inland' vessel beyond also be in Young's other dock further round the point, though topography has been distorted to fit it in. The Dutch elements may be a compliment to Peter Everitt Mestaer, whose yard was to the right (west) of Young's, where the moored ship is alongside, and whose name suggests Dutch background. If this interpretation is right the buildings and stacked timber are likely to be those of Thompson's yard beyond Young's.

In the early 18th century ribbon development along the Thames linked Deptford to Rotherhithe and London. Daniel Defoe commented in 1724 that 'the docks and building yards on the riverside between the town of Deptford and the street of Redriff or Rotherhithe are effectually joined and building daily increased'. Despite this evidence the painting is curiously emptied of bustle and human activity.

Whitcombe was born in London in about 1752 and painted ship portraits, battle scenes, harbour views and ships in storms. Although his output was vast, little is known about him. He produced a large number of subjects from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815, and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1783 and 1824. His depiction of ships implies specific knowledge of life at sea, although he probably spent most of his career in London. Many of his works were engraved and they included 50 plates to James Jenkins's account of 'The Naval Achievements of Great Britain', published in 1817. The painting is signed and dated in the lower left corner, 'Thos. Whitcombe 1792'.