This dark, night time battle scene, illuminated by cannon fire or moonlight, depicts the capture of the Danish ship Prinds Christian Frederik, in the Battle of Zealand off Storebaelt (the Great Belt), March 1808, by the British ships Nassau and Stately. The British squadron had been sent to intercept the Danish ship which was covering the landing of French troops to attack Skane. Prinds Christian Frederik is central to the picture, shown in port bow view. She is firing broadsides, to port and starboard, at the British ships who are alongside – Nassau on the right of the picture and Stately on the left. All the ships have holes in their sails and Stately’s top foremast is toppling. Cannon smoke billows across the otherwise calm, rippling sea.

After the event depicted, the Prinds Christian Frederik ran ground. The British took off the prisoners and wounded men and then set fire to the Danish ship. She was utterly destroyed when the gunpowder store exploded. She was the last Danish ship to be involved in the Napoleonic War.

The inscription below the image, in Danish, describes the capture and burning of Prinds Christian Frederik, 74 guns, by Nassau and Stately, both 64 guns. It also mentions that other unnamed British ships took part.