In a dynamic diagonal, the emblematic frigate Kaiser is shown being towed by a second steamship whose smoke stack follows the diagonal of the course of the two vessels. The sea is rough while the sky is cloudy. There is no land anywhere and the waves indicate that the ships are on the high seas. In the vastness of the sea and under the threatening sky, the moment is imposing and inspires majesty. Ioannis Altamouras (1852 – 1878) uniquely renders the liquid element in this work, with dark green and blue tones that give the feeling of rough seas. The rendering of the wind through the clouds that appear to be in motion is also excellent, intensifying the sense of awe that pervades the scene.

The frigate Keiser depicted in the work is the ship with which the Austrians defeated the Italians in 1866. In the same year that the naval battle took place, the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph II, announced an international competition on the theme of the battle, with Konstantinos Volanakis winning first prize. During the battle, the Kaiser rammed the Italian battleship Re di Portogallo and lost its mainmast, foremast and funnel. The ship, now unruly, was towed by a steamer to the Austrian naval base in Pola, in present-day Croatia. This scene is chosen to be immortalized by Altamouras, who knew and had studied the work of Volanakis, but he attempts to raise his own issues regarding the conception of the subject. In his work, he is concerned with issues of space, light and color. Their resolution is not unrelated to the creation of an atmospheric tone, which emerges as a condensation of all the individual elements of the image. The density or transparency of the brushstroke as well as the vastness of the space occupied by the sea, are functions of the artist's primary goals.