l aboard were saved, the 35 British prisoners taken to a prison hulk at Flushing. The ship itself was wrecked beyond repair and abandoned. The other captured frigate, Ambuscade, was also driven ashore in a sinking state and the prize crew made prisoner, but in that case the ship was salvaged and later returned to Dutch service.
In contrast to the British difficulties, the survivors of the Dutch fleet had few problems returning to the Texel, with the exception of Brutus. Admiral Bloys van Treslong had sailed for the coast off Hinder with two brigs, and there on 13 October the 40-gun British frigate HMS Endymion under Captain Sir Thomas Williams found him. At 16:30, Endymion closed with the larger, but damaged, Dutch ship and opened fire, Brutus responding with a broadside of its own. Williams successfully raked his opponent twice, but the complicated tides of the Dutch coast dragged his ship out of range at 17:30 before he could press his attack any further. Firing rockets in the hope of attracting attention from any of Duncan's ships, Williams was rewarded at 22:30 by the arrival of Beaulieu. On 14 October the frigates hunted for their opponents, and found the Dutch ships off the Goeree channel at 05:00. The frigates closed, and Bloys van Treslong withdrew, passing deeper into Dutch waters and reaching safety at Maese by 07:00. The British frigates, their quarry having escaped, returned to Duncan's struggling fleet.
On 17 October 1797, Duncan's limping convoy began to arrive at Yarmouth to be greeted with great celebrations. Several ships were delayed, with three wallowing off Kentish Knock, three more in Hosley Bay and several still at sea due to an adverse northwesterly wind. News of the victory had already spread across Britain, and on 20 October Duncan was created Viscount Duncan of Camperdown and Baron Duncan of Lundie. Admiral Onslow was made a baronet and Captains Henry Trollope and William George Fairfax were knighted.[Note 6]King George III insisted on meeting Duncan personally, and on 30 October set out for Sheerness in the royal yacht HMY Royal Charlotte before strong winds and waves forced him back to port on 1 November. Unable to reach Duncan's flagship, the King instead rewarded the fleet as a whole by pardoning 180 men condemned for their role in the Nore Mutiny and held aboard the prison hulk HMS Eagle in the River Medway. Similar pardons were awarded by Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier to mutineers in the East Indies Squadron. Gold medals were created and presented to the captains and both Houses of Parliament voted their thanks for their victory. All first lieutenants were promoted to commander and Duncan and Onslow were presented with valuable presentation swords valued at 200 and 100 guineas each respectively. Duncan was also given a pension of £2,000 a year by the government, made a freeman of numerous towns and cities and was subject to presentations from numerous patriotic societies, particularly in Scotland, where he was awarded valuable plate by both his birth city of Dundee and the county of Forfarshire. A public subscription was taken up for the widows and wounded and raised £52,609 10s and 10d (the equivalent of £4,870,000 as of 2015), When Duncan travelled to a reception at The Guildhall on 10 November, a mob surrounded his carriage in the street, unhitched the horses and dragged it themselves up Ludgate Hill as a mark of respect. On 23 December, the King lead a thanksgiving procession and ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral in London at which Duncan carried De Winter's flag from Vrijheid and Onslow carried Reijntjes' flag from Jupiter, followed by Fairfax, Essington, Mitchell, Bligh, Walker, Trollope, Drury, O'Bryen, Gregory and Hotham as well as numerous seamen from the fleet. Five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.
Not all of the reactions were positive: several of Duncan's captains were criticised for their failure to rapidly and decisively engage