Overall: 35cm (14in) x 42.5cm (16.7in)
Watercolour heightened with body colour on paper. Port quarter view of H.M.S. Eclipse with a torpedo boat to port. Signed lower left Harold Whitehead (fl.1880-1900). Framed and glazed. Image: 20cm (8in) x 28cm (11in).
The lead ship of the Eclipse-class. H.M.S. Eclipse was launched in 1894 and served in the Indian Ocean as flagship of the East Indies Squadron. On the outbreak of the First World War she joined the 12th Cruiser Squadron patrolling the English Channel, with particular duties to stop suspicious vessels and prevent disguised minelayers from interfering with cross-Channel traffic.
