A painting showing the ‘Warrior’ in a storm at the mouth of the Tagus. She is shown in a heavy sea and the driving rain can be seen from the dark clouds immediately overhead. She has pulled up her sails in an endeavour to navigate through the heavy squall. The artist has placed the ship in a lighter area in the midst of the storm. In the foreground on the left is a small lateen rigged boat.

The ‘Warrior’ was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy built in Portsmouth and launched in 1781. In 1799 she was part of Lord Keith’s fleet in Lisbon in October, under the command of Captain H. Savage. It is possible that the painting refers to this visit. It is also possible that the artist was drawing on his own experiences and the events he witnessed in the Royal Navy to produce this painting. In 1795 he is documented as enlisting on board HM receiving ship ‘Enterprise’ in London. He served on the ‘Caroline’ during the French wars and was invalided home from Minorca in 1800.