(Recto) The English fleet off the entrance to the Dardanelles; (verso) the French and English fleets in Besika Bay, October 1853

No. 34 of 36 (PAI0849 - PAI0884).

(Recto) Inscribed at the top, 'Entrance of Dardanells', 'Plains of Troy', 'Tomb of Achilles' (the conical hill on the right), and along the bottom with the names of the ships shown anchored in two lines abreast off the coast in the foreground and right: top/ front row (the larger ships), 'Trafalgar 120 [guns], Bellerophon 78, Albion 90, Britannia Flag / 120, Rodney 90, Vengeance 80, Firebrand S.V. [steam vessel]'; bottom/ second row, ' Fury S.V., Inflexible S.V., Niger S.V., Tiger S.V., Retribution S.V., Sampson S.V.'

(Verso) Inscribed top right ‘Oct 2d 53 / Besika Bay’, above a panoramic sketch of the bay, with a local sloop-rigged caique or similar vessel with an exceptionally long gaff and double topsails on the right. The lower half of the sheet is a separate drawing inscribed lower left, ‘GPMends / French and / English Fleet laying in Besika Bay /June 15th 1853’. The French lie to seaward, on the left, the English squadron inshore, the view being northward, with a local rowing boat at centre.

Object Details

ID: PAI0882
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Mends, George Pechell; Mends, George Pechell
Places: Unlinked place
Date made: July - October 1853
People: English/French Fleet
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 255 x 372 mm
Parts: Captain Captain George Pechell Mends' 'Trafalgar' sketchbook: (inside front cover) 'Hints on Drawing' with a small watercolour landscape sketch (Sketchbook)