A dramatic seascape completed in 1810 depicting a vessel overwhelmed by a terrifying storm. The hull breaks apart as lifeboats attempt desperate rescue of survivors. Acquired topical resonance when HMS Minotaur was wrecked off the Netherlands in November 1810.

Part of Turner's sustained exploration of storms and maritime catastrophe as expressions of the Romantic sublime.

Acquired by the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon in 1920.