Despite the drawing’s traditional title, it is possible that the subject may not be a council of war. In the middle-distance is a broadside view of a ship with a flag and pendant at the main, a large number of boats alongside. In the foreground is a States yacht with flags at the masthead and peak. The rest of the fleet is in the background. The Younger’s looser more painterly approach to drawing is evident in this drawing, for example the use of wash in the sky to set off the sails of the flagship, and the more subtle suggestion of light and shade on the hulls of the ships in the background.