The sun is depicted coming from the left and it is probable that the drawing was made in the evening. Ships of the Dutch fleet are shown cross-tacking in their vain effort to round the Skaw, a cape on the north coast of Jutland. Van Wassenaer in the ‘Eendracht’ is shown in the centre middle distance, his vice-admiral Verhaef in the ‘Rotterdam’ to the left with the ‘Dordrecht’, and the flute ‘Judith’ on the extreme left. In the right centre foreground is a stern view of a ship, probably the ‘Stavoren’, having a view of a town on her tafferel (cut inscription ‘st …e …’). Flagships on the right include Verveen in the ‘Zon’, Pieter Floriszoon in the ‘Josua’ and Bruynsvelt in the ‘Breda’.

The drawing is inscribed ‘No. 9 geteickent op woonsdach den 23en October 1658 / daer de vloodt 2 a 3 mael wenden voor schagen / om boven de houck ofte rijft te comen’ (No. 9. Drawn on Wednesday the 23 October 1658 as the fleet tacked several times off Schagen to get to windward of the head or reef). The reverse is inscribed ‘5 teickeningen die bij Judtlant zijn and noch 5 teickeningevan mijn / reijs bij Juidtlant’ (Further five drawings of my voyage to Jutland).

The numbered series of drawings begins with seven in various collections – the Duke of Northumberland, the Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam, Atlas van Stolk, Rotterdam, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Museum, and continues with others in the NMM (PAJ2527and PAJ2583) and in other collections in Britain and other European collections.

This would appear to be No. 9 of a series of drawings connected with the Northern expedition of 1658 which culminated in the battle of the Sound. Sweden’s action in attacking Denmark and occupying both sides of the Sound had halted the Baltic trade. The Dutch victory at the battle of the Sound forced Sweden to withdraw from Copenhagen and the trade routes were reopened. Van de Velde was present on the expedition.