Inscribed across the bottom 'Castle of Europe/ Entrance Dardanelles' [illeg] 'Cape Troy/ Bankin Bay [?]'. It was done while the Anglo-French fleet was stationed in Besika Bay, anticipating the need to support Turkey against the Russians in the months before the start of the Crimean War. See also PAI0881 and related drawings made at the same time in Mends's 'Trafalgar' sketchbook.

The old defensive fort called the Castle of Europe is not at the entrance of the Dardanelles but some distance inside, opposite the Castle of Asia on the southern side. They are the third of the pairs of batteries encountered when entering from the Aegean. PAD9391 is a westward drawing from Cape Troy.