This coloured lithograph depicts a flotilla of English paddle steamers making its way through the Ango Channel to attack the Russian defences at Bomarsund in the Aland Islands on 22nd July, 1854. It is being led by the ‘Lightning’, the small, dark-hulled steamship in the centre foreground, under Capt. J.B. Sullivan. Rear Admiral Chads was in overall command in the ‘Edinburgh’, which is the large steamship on the right, viewed bow on. A small jetty extends into the channel on the right of the picture and a flock of ducks add interest to the scene on the left. The shore is strewn with boulders and covered with the pines that are typical of the region.