In the centre, the boats of Narbrough’s squadron under Lieutenant Cloudesley Shovell are setting fire to four large Tripoli ships which are lying in ordinary in the harbour. On the left is a hand-to-hand fight with a large boat. In the right foreground is part of the Mandrake fort and the rocky shore. The walled town of Tripoli is in the background.

In the British Museum (B. 21; CM.40) there is a preliminary sketch for this drawing with an inscription which (translated) reads: ‘Tripoli, Sir John Narbrough, commander-in-chief, burns four Turkish vessels; a Smyrna merchant which was left was burned that night with eleven boats; two of the boats were in action with a small Turkish barquentine and another Tunis merchantman.’