Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts naval activity in the French port of Brest.

The work is one of 6 paintings van Blarenberghe produced at the behest of the French government.

In the 1750s, the French government commissioned Flemish painter Henri Joseph van Blarenberghe to produce a number of paintings concerning various ports in France.

However, the project ended before the artist was able to produce a work concerning the port of Brest in Brittany.

A decade later, van Blarenberghe and his son (Nicolas van Blarenberghe) were tasked by the French secretary of state for the navy to produce a set of works depicting Brest, which had recently been rebuilt; the secretary hoped that van Blarenberghe's works would show the French king the successful rebuilding of the French naval station in the port city.