Paton was a foundling who was encouraged to paint by his protector, Admiral Sir Charles Knowles. This is one of a pair of paintings (RCIN 406728 and 406654) executed in c. 1770 in which he celebrates the admiral's exploits.

This engagement took place on 1 October 1748 when Knowles took on a Spanish squadron off Havana; he destroyed their flagship Africa and captured the Conquistadore, in spite of the fact that his ship, the Cornwall had lost its top-mast. Paton shows many battle ships of the English and Spanish fleets engaging in battle on a calm sea; the two large central ships fly the British flags from their stern, the rear of the two with a broken top-mast must be the Cornwall.