A view of the action in the Bay of Biscay on 14 May 1781 between the British ‘Nonsuch’ and the French ‘Actif’. The ‘Nonsuch’ is here shown in starboard quarter view firing her guns at the starboard bow ‘Actif’. The sails of both ships are heavily shot through. Watercolour. Signed by artist and dated.
The ‘Nonsuch’ twice pursued and attacked the ‘Actif’, a French 74-gun ship, but the ‘Nonsuch’s lighter armament and build prevented her from taking the ‘Actif’ and she sustained high casualties and damage.