Turner often painted subjects associated with London’s great river, the Thames. Sometimes he focused on pastoral and historical themes. Here, he has shown a scene of working life, with commercial vessels battling through the rough waters.

The Thames was the major commercial and industrial thoroughfare for London and for the country as a whole. The growth of the canal system and the creation of new docks to the east of London in the late eighteenth century made water transport more efficient than ever. During the war with France (1793–1815), maintaining trade became a matter of national importance.