"Turner tackles a serious social subject, and produces a dazzlingly powerful image. Paradoxically, for a scene set at sea, he deploys a fiery palette of oranges and yellows to show the sunset reflecting a scene of human brutality. Turner was not just an artist pre-occupied by the aesthetic. This painting was owned by John Ruskin, Turner's great supporter." - Tim Wright, GQ interview.
One of Turner's Burning of the Houses of Parliament is at the Philadelphia MoA, if you have a chance, go see it in person.