One of a series of over 20 drawings made by Van de Velde in autumn 1658, when he joined the Dutch fleet, under the new command of Lieutenant-Admiral Jan van Wassenaer, en route to the engagement with the Swedish fleet at the Battle of the Sound in October that year. The Dutch action was made in response to Sweden’s attack upon Denmark and occupation of both sides of the Sound, which brought the Baltic trade to a standstill. The Dutch victory at the battle forced the Swedes to withdraw from before Copenhagen and the trade routes were reopened.

This drawing is probably no. 14 in the series, showing a lee quarter view of the fleet before the wind and perhaps before its coming to anchor near Old Schagen. An unidentified ship occupies the centre foreground, with the small ‘Eendracht’ under Vice-Admiral Captain Femse on the right, and the ‘Josua’, commanded by Pieter Floroszoon, on the left. There are also two galjoots in the left foreground.

Some pen-work has been added to the two galjoots on the left; this may be by the 18th-century collector and amateur artist Charles Gore, as in the seventh drawing of the series, PAJ2395.