‘Balaklava looking towards the Sea’, 1855 (coloured lithograph)

‘Balaklava looking towards the Sea’. Coloured tinted lithograph by W Walton, 1855. One of 40 lithographs from 'The Seat of War in the East - First Series' after William Simpson, published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi and Company, 15 January 1855. Balaklava Harbour was the principal supply port for the British Army in the Crimea. However, it proved inadequate for the volume of traffic demanded of it. This problem was exacerbated by a storm on 14 November 1854 that devastated the British fleet lying at anchor there, and the onset of the bitter Crimean winter. The result was, squalid living conditions, shortages and suffering for the British soldiers and an administrative headache for the British commander.