Upon the Restoration in 1660 Charles II appointed his brother, James (Duke of York and later James II), to the position of Lord High Admiral, in which capacity he commanded the Royal Navy during the Second (1665-7) and Third (1672-4) Anglo-Dutch Wars (the First (1652-4) took place in Cromwell’s time). In 1675 he commissioned from the recently-arrived Dutch artists (Van de Veldes, father and son) a set of large canvases depicting episodes in these two conflicts and the ongoing struggle against the Barbary Corsairs. Previous commissions of this type had been for tapestries, like the famous Armada set hanging at this date in the House of Lords. The Van the Veldes’ paintings in this series have the character of tapestries, with high view points and a crowding of incidents (as opposed to the sea-level, atmospheric view of their other oil paintings). This daring attack on the Barbary pirates in one of their main home ports took place at midnight on the 24 January 1676, lead by Lieutenant Cloudesley Shovell (later Admiral of the Fleet and still celebrated in the famous London pub, the ‘Ship and Shovell’). English war-ships under the command of Sir John Narborough are moored out side the bar (behind the viewer); Shovell’s force are in rowing boats surrounding the much larger Barbary ships; the nearest one has yet to be set on fire. Inscribed lower right: '1676 / W. v. Velde.'