Turner's second "Marine" subject in the Liber was interpreted from a painting, Ships Bearing up for Anchorage, that was purchased from him by the Earl of Egremont in 1802.

To suit the needs of the mezzotint, Turner recomposed the scene, bringing the ships much closer to the foreground and dramatizing the play of light on the clouds and seas.

"How many, we may ask, of painters of to-day but would have rested here satisfied, and painted none but sea-pieces for the rest of their lives?"
-W.G. Rawlinson, 1878