This tinted lithograph shows the wooden paddle sloop ‘Gorgon’, 6 guns, moored for repairs or refitting. One of her masts lies on the shore in the foreground, behind two beached rowing boats. In 1840 she took part in the Bombardment of Acre, then in 1843 she joined the Royal Navy squadron stationed on the River Plate during the Uruguayan Civil War. In 1858 she was employed to take soundings for the laying of the first Transatlantic cable.