This painting depicts motor torpedo boats (MTBs) of the 29th Canadian Flotilla near their pens in Dover Harbour, located beneath Dover's towering chalk cliffs.

The 29th made sorties from the "bomb-proof" protection of these 14-foot-thick concrete pens. The MTBs of the 29th Flotilla were fast and well-armed craft, but very uncomfortable in anything more than a moderate swell. They also had little room for accommodation aboard and no ability to house and feed crews on extended voyages.

Motor Torpedo Boats in Dover Pens
Painted by Tom Wood
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-4888