Lot 29: Robert Strickland Thomas , 1787 - 1853 H.M.S. Royal George and other shipping in Portsmouth Harbour oil on canvas, in a British Baroque carved and gilded frame

oil on canvas, in a British Baroque carved and gilded frame

82 by 134 cm., 32 1/4 by 52 3/4 in.

The steam ship seen in the far left of this painting gives a clue to the identity of the Man-of-War flying the red ensign in the centre of the composition. The first steam boats used by the Royal Navy appeared in 1813, by which time the navy's 'Ship List' records only three 100-gun ships still in service; H.M.S. Royal Soverign, H.M.S. Britannia (renamed H.M.S. St George in 1812), and H.M.S. Royal George. Of these three the only one whose disposition of cannon corresponds to that of the present painting is the latter, a 100 gun 1υst rate ship of the line. A sketch of the Royal George's lines is illustrated on page 125 of Brian Lavery's book The Ship of the Line, published in 1983. When she was first commissioned in 1788 the Royal George was the largest 1υst rate ship of her time, at 190ft long with a full crew of 850 men. Built at Chatham and originally laid down as Umpire, she was renamed before being launched and took part in Lord Howe's action of the Glorious First of June; the first major sea encounter of the Revolutionary War (1793-1801). She was later Lord Bridport's flagship in the action off Groix Island, in 1795, and was Sir John Duckworth's flagship when he and his squadron forced the passage of the Dardanelles under fire from the forts and castles above in 1807. She was finally decommissioned and broken up in 1822.