Bought by H. A. J. Munro of Novar, perhaps in 1844 at the R.A.; in any case he owned it by 1847 when it was recorded as hanging in his London house, 113 Grosvenor Square, by the Art Union Journal. Bell relates that this picture was later bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt, without any provenance, as a view of Boulogne Harbour. It was the American painter, Thomas Moran (1837-1926), an ardent admirer of Turner's work, who identified it as the 'Ostend' exhibited in 1844.

At the Academy, most critics concentrated on 'Rain, Steam and Speed' (National Gallery 538) but the Spectator for I May considered that "Ostend" and "Port Ruysdael" are two magnificent sea-pieces, without exaggeration; and in these scenes the general effect is all sufficient ...' Ruskin in Modern Painters thought 'Ostend' somewhat forced and affected', and he mistakenly reported the year of its exhibition as 1843. In fact this is the only time it has been shown in public since 1844.