Hornblower and the Indefatigable by Robert Taylor

Situation: Winter in the Bay of Biscay brings ferocious gales and bitter cold discomfort for ships' crews aboard the British frigate Indefatigable. Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forrester's dashing eighteenth-century naval officer, experienced the worst of conditions at sea while serving the arduous task of blockading the ports off the west coast of France. The excitement of battle came as welcome relief. Robert's magnificent painting depicts an exchange of cannon fire between Indefatigable - on the left - and a 40-gun French frigate attempting to run the blockade on a chill winter's morning. Moments later the two hulls crashed alongside each other, and the Frenchman was boarded and taken.