'Mine Sweepers waiting for the fog to lift'; off Fort Blockhouse, Portsmouth RMG PW1146, William Lionel Wyllie, circa 1916

'mine sweepers waiting for the fog to lift'; off fort blockhouse, portsmouth inscribed, as title, and signed by artist, lower right. This atmospheric watercolour was reproduced (in black and white) in wyllie and m. F. Wren's 'sea fights of the great war' (1918) f. P. 40. It shows about half a dozen harbour launches tied to a single buoy off fort blockhouse, at the entrance to portsmouth harbour, with more men coming aboard in a large rowing barge, as they wait for morning fog to clear. They were not minesweepers in the technical sense: their job was to inspect the approach channels to the harbour for any signs of suspicious acitivity and their only 'minesweeping' equipment was grappling hooks and small marker buoys to mark anything they found. Date: circa 1916. Dimensions: 261 mm x 421 mm. Collection: Fine art.