Recent research suggests this is Alfred Sharpe's interpretation of the dramatic scene in Antarctic waters on 6 February 1838. The two ships depicted are the French corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée. The Astrolabe is shown packed in by ice but the Zélée is also trapped. Zélée is shown about mid-right. The expedition was under the command of Dumont d'Urville a talented French mariner who had visited New Zealand twice before and he was about to make his third visit. He was a daring commander and is known for his skill in taking the Astrolabe through French Pass, NZ, in an earlier Pacific voyage. Very briefly the background to the voyage was that in 1836 Dumont d'Urville presented a proposal to the French authorities suggesting an expedition to the Pacific. King (or Emperor) Louis-Philippe was very interested in the idea and suggested the addition of a probe into Antarctic waters.

After a long voyage, on February 2, 1838, the ships were sailing southwards in search of Antarctica. Within 48 hours they came upon an ice field. D'Urville followed it westwards and entered an inlet in the ice with Jacquinot, on the Zélée close behind. It was an unwise plan as during the night the ice cracked and crunched and by morning the channel had closed behind the ships. Men climbed down onto the ice to tie ropes to the floes; those who remained on board hauled on them to move painfully forward, while others tried to push the ice aside with picks, pincers and pickaxes. It took five days to break free from the ice. During the process a number of the crew suffered from frostbite, including all three surgeons. Eventually they landed on Weddell Island.

Dumont d'Urville spent eight more months exploring southern waters. He then headed for Hobart and then sailed on to New Zealand; after anchoring for a few days at the Auckland Islands, he sailed north off the east coast of New Zealand. November 6, 1840, the two ships entered the harbour at Toulon. They had been away three years and two months. A decade later an official account of the voyage was published showing two similar works.