Semaphore at Portsmouth

A view of the entrance to Portsmouth harbour from the saluting platform. In the foreground, two soldiers sit on the wall next to a cannon on an iron carriage and, to the right, the artist has shown a pile of cannon balls. Also, to the right can be seen the Semaphore Tower flying a flag signal. Beyond to the left lies the town of Portsmouth with the pier and Round Tower. To the left of the Round Tower is the port flagship, the 'Britannia'.

Built in 1831–33, the Semaphore Tower linked the sail loft and rigging store within the Dockyard. It was the terminus of a line-of-sight communication network between the Admiralty in London and Portsmouth. Known as the Popham semaphore line, this network opened in 1822, replacing an earlier shutter system used during the Napoleonic Wars. Popham’s line used towers with pivoted arms to transmit messages via visual signals. It was superseded in 1847 with the introduction of the electric telegraph. After this point, the Semaphore Tower was used only as a dockyard signal tower. It was destroyed in a major fire in December 1913, but a near-replica was built in 1930. The replica is known as the Semaphore Tower, although it has never been used for semaphore.

The artist was trained by his father the painter George Cooke, and showed outstanding talent as a draughtsman. He helped Clarkson Stanfield with some of his commissions, took lessons in oil painting from James Stark in 1834, and assisted with the arrangement of exhibits for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 1835-79 and was made ARA in 1851, and RA in 1863. His sketchbooks are in the National Maritime Museum, London. Finden made an engraving of this painting.