The East Indiaman Pitt in two positions off the Needles, Isle of Wight

The East Indiaman Pitt, a 775 ton, 36-gun ship, was built at Deptford on the Thames in 1780. She was designed to transport both men and cargo, but required guns to defend herself against piracy. The Pitt undertook six voyages for the British Honourable East India Company, each with a different captain. In 1798, around the time of this painting, she was under the command of John Garrard, who sailed her from Portsmouth to India in August, returning the following year. George Macauley was succeeded as the first ship's husband by John William Wells in 1796. In addition to her services for the East India Company, the Pitt transported convicts to Australia in 1792 (a voyage that took 212 days). In 1805 she was purchased by a gentleman called Wildman, who sailed her from London to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Pitt was acquired by the Royal Navy in 1808 and renamed The Doris. She was sold back into the merchant trade in 1829.
Whitcombe was one of the leading painters of the French Revolutionary Wars. He spent the majority of his working life in London and painted over one hundred and fifty actions of the British fleet, together with fifty plates for J. Jenkins' publication, Naval Achievements of Great Britain. He exhibited a total of fifty-six marine paintings at the Royal Academy between 1783 and 1824, and also exhibited at the British Institute in 1820.