A port broadside view of the ‘Orion’, her dimensions printed on either side of the main inscription. On the right, a steamboat with passengers. The distant skyline features two amphitheatres on the right and a lighthouse with low buildings along the coast. Coloured lithograph. Signed by artist and dated in plate.
Captain John Elphinstone Erskine commanded ‘Orion’ and made a daring reconnaissance of Cronstadt in May 1855, lying all night within sight of about eight Russian steamships, four of which were heavily armed (W. Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy – a history, Vol. 6, p.480).