"Acheron & the Surprise"   

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas mounted to hard board.

  In a private collection 

While researching some of the details of this piece I became aware that there are very few accurate and close-up paintings of the French Man-O-War or "Ships of the Line".  Seems the British Navy dominates the hearts and minds of those who would paint this by gone time in navel history.  

This is an image from "Master and Commander" and of course the French ship in the foreground is the 74 Gun ship Acheron firing upon the British 34 Gun ship "HMS Surprise". In this scene I sought to give greater focus to the larger French ship and yet as one can see from the dramatic "returning fire" from the Surprise, the British importance to this event has not been diminished.