In February 1940, Eric Ravilious (1903–42), became, with Paul Nash, one of the first artists to be appointed by the WAAC. He was assigned to the Admiralty and given the rank of Captain. His first assignments took him to the Royal Naval Barracks in Chatham, Sheerness, Grimsby and Scapa Flow, sailing to the Arctic Circle on HMS ‘Highlander’. Ravilious moved on to Portsmouth, and, in August 1940, to HMS ‘Dolphin’, the Royal Navy shore base at Gosport. He spent time on board L-class submarines (which, largely decommissioned by the time of the Second World War, were used for training), drawing interiors of these extraordinary environments. From this experience, came the ‘Submarines' series, a group of lithographic prints produced in 1941, and perhaps his most coherent group of wartime works. The preparatory sketches, acquired by the WAAC, are in the National Maritime Museum. In 1942, Ravilious was reassigned to the RAF. That summer, he went to Iceland, to never return: his aircraft was lost during a rescue operation on 2 September. Ravilious was the first of three official war artists killed on active duty during the Second World War.

For the ‘Submarine Series’, Ravilious’s unique formal language and design focus conjured a dream-like atmosphere. This sketch, for the introductory plate, is a composite of different elements. A small amphibious craft pulling away in the depths of the sea is associated with the artist’s hand poised above the paper, drawing a hatch. The sailor at the wheel, and nautical elements such as the diving helmet, anchor and compass, announce the themes of the series.

This is one of two drawings (with PAJ0744) that the censors objected to, although the reasons for this are unclear, since nothing of a sensitive nature is depicted. It may be that the dreamlike quality was judged inappropriate. The design was however issued as a lithograph (see object nos. PAD8079 and PAD8080 in NMM collection)