The island fortress of Goree lay off Dakar on the west coast of Africa. Its position gave the French a base from which to menace the English trade route to India and the East. It was therefore strategically important for the English to capture it every time they were at war with France. On the occasion recorded in this painting, the task was entrusted to Commodore the Honourable Augustus Keppel, who had been sent out after Commodore Marsh’s failure against Goree in May 1758. Against Keppel’s more powerful squadron the French surrendered the after a short bombardment. Goree was returned to French control at the conclusion of peace in 1763.

One of a pair with BHC0386, this painting shows the scene just after the capture of Goree by the English. The union flag is flying from the citadel on the left. Some of the English squadron is moored in the foreground. On the left is a bomb ketch and to the right is the stern of the ‘Torbay’, with the ‘Fougueux’ on her right. A pair of two-deckers is on the right of the painting and on the extreme right are the bows of one more two-decker and a transport ship.