Perils of the Deep
1849
oil on canvas
signed and dated W.A.K. Martin, Phila. / 1849, lower left
further signed and identified Perils of the Deep /  Martin pinx Philadelphia 1849, verso
26 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches.

The subject of this painting is likely the rescue of a storm-damaged French frigate by the USS Delaware III in the Mediterranean Sea (1843-1844). According to Captain Dale Mayberry, USN, former director of the United States Naval Academy, there were nine "three-decker" ship-of-the-line vessels in the United States Navy, but only the Delaware III was fitted with an Indian figurehead, as seen in the painting offered here. 

The Delaware III was built at the Norfolk Navy Yard and launched on October 21, 1820. She was captained by J. Downs and designed as the flagship of Commodore W. M. Crane in service of American commercial and diplomatic interests in the Mediterranean. The Delaware III was decommissioned in 1830, returning to sea in the summer of 1833 for goodwill visits, again in the Mediterranean. Later, she patrolled the South American coasts during periods of political strife in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. She was decommissioned in 1844 at the Norfolk Navy Yard and was burned there in 1861 along with several other vessels to prevent confiscation by the Confederacy.